To mark its 75th anniversary, the Italian fashion and accessories house is returning to its Paris location on Avenue Montaigne. Completely redesigned, this 745-square-meter flagship store, spread over two floors, features an orange double-helix staircase.
“An unexpected Italian fireworks display.”
That was the vision of architect Sophie Hicks behind the renovation of the Max Mara flagship store on Avenue Montaigne.
This flagship store in Paris’s Golden Triangle aims to be just as spacious and open to the outside as it is colorful and stylish.
A Different Architectural Approach
The new design focuses on open interiors, unobstructed sightlines, and well-defined structural details. The layout emphasizes the space’s brightness, with a minimalist approach to materials and finishes, all to create a welcoming and non-intimidating retail environment.
To bring about this transformation, architect Sophie Hicks drew inspiration from the brand’s DNA, established in 1951, and in particular the long coat. “For me,the very embodiment of Max Mara is a timeless camel coat. This store is a play on camel: a camel-colored enamel facade, camel-tinted windows… And if we take the camel look to the extreme, what do we get? Orange, of course!” explains Sophie Hicks.
This lattervibrant, multi-vitamin-inspired shade is expressed here in the form of adouble-helix staircase, which will delight internet users in search of viral images for social media. Occupying acentral position in the store, this structure leading to the upper floor was designed as a double spiral reminiscent of an orange peel.
While the staircase, visible from the street, is the building’s standout feature,the rest of the structure features more understated architectural details. To this end, theconcrete framework of the original 1970s building has been left exposed. The boutique itself is dotted with concrete display tables, complemented by suspended tables made of the same material, dedicated to showcasing eyewear.
The building’s open layout prompted the teams to move the display windows to the interior of the boutique. Visitors are thus invited to wander among the space’s modular mannequins.
Several details reflect Max Mara’s proudly Italian identity and specifically evoke its production site in Reggio Emilia. A vanilla-colored marmorino lime plaster covers the walls and ceilings, interspersed with fragments of “rosso di Verona” stone and polished to create a reflective surface, particularly above the staircase. On the floor, the terrazzo comes in two finishes: smooth inside the store and textured outside.
In terms of interactive features and “tech” elements, the building is no slouch. A backlit linen screen, whose subtle variations showcase a signature mannequin, displays real-time weather conditions from the Italian headquarters. Wind, mist, sun, and rain overlay photographs of the historic Max Mara factory—now the Collezione Maramotti, a private contemporary art collection—and the surrounding landscapes. These abstract projections act as“atmosphere projectors”: a poetic reminder of the brand’s homeland.
Upstairs, customers enjoy a breathtaking view of the Eiffel Tower while strolling through different sections, each dedicated to a material such as cashmere, camel hair, silk, or cotton.
And to reinforce the idea of anurban sanctuary, the new boutique features its own landscaped garden, which showcases structured plant arrangements as well as seasonal variations, featuring boxwood trimmed into cubes and willows whose appearance evolves throughout the year.
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Featured photo: © Max Mara
