Hot on the heels of the Amsterdam store opening, Paul Smith launches an eagerly anticipated flagship store in downtown Melbourne, and the brand’s very first down under. Plans to simultaneously launch in Sydney had to be cancelled after the preferred site fell through, but a store there is still in the making. The Melbourne flagship is housed in a beautiful heritage-listed mansion with lead-lined stained glass windows, and measures 250 sqm.

Spread over no less than ten different rooms on two floors. Upon entering, shoppers are greeted with a tiled front lobby, decorated with hanging illustrations and a hand-painted landscape running along the walls. Elegant 1960s American brass display cabinets stand at the perimeters to showcase accessories and objects.

Leading through a doorway from reception, the men’s mainline collection is presented in a room with a brightly painted fireplace, juxtaposed by traditional walnut furniture. In the room next door, womenswear items hang from a curved brass rail running the width of the room with glass shelves highlighted by a coral chandelier.

On the first floor a 1920s reclaimed mahogany parquet floor leads shoppers through to the suit room, a rather grand space that takes up two of the bay windows flanked by original fireplaces. Adjacent rooms, with European oak floorboards, display casualwear in modern cabinetry with quirky animal hand illustrations painted on to the walls.

http://superfuture.com/supernews/melbourne-paul-smith-store-opening