BALENCIAGA OPENS FIRST STORE IN BRUSSELS

On July 18th, 2022, the first Balenciaga store in Belgium will open on Boulevard De Waterloo in Brussels. 

The architecture of Balenciaga Brussels reacts and responds to its surroundings: preexisting details frame the store’s façade, offering a contrast between the area’s classical aesthetic and rougher edges within, as seen through several picture windows. Here, the very nature of authenticity is questioned by a physical simulation of the passage of time. Subsequently, Balenciaga products stand in an atemporal condition, not associated with any specific contingency.

A cobblestone path leads from the street to a covered entrance. The store’s open-plan, 340 square-meter floor offers a selection of women’s and men’s ready-to-wear, shoes, bags, accessories, jewelry, and eyewear.

Warm grey carpeting and glass-covered grey curtains reference Balenciaga signatures, uniquely iterated in retail presentations worldwide. Industrial fixtures, heavy metal tables, and hanging pipe racks are set against clean white columns and ornate ceiling moldings. On concrete wall panels and worn leather seating, patinas are deployed as finishes, suspending the space in a state of progress. A high-definition digital screen displaying Balenciaga content adds a modern touch to the space’s overall look of layered eras.