A Huge Pearl Sculpture Sparkles Inside the New Chanel Flagship on Rodeo Drive

The wait was long, and the wait was worth it. At least 10 years in the making and after three years of construction, Chanel’s stunning new Beverly Hills flagship has opened at 400 N. Rodeo Drive. Clocking in at 30,000 square feet, it’s now the biggest Chanel store in the United States and more than double the size of its previous Rodeo Drive space.

The May 5 opening comes just days after Chanel sponsored the Karl Lagerfeld-themed Met Gala, where everyone from house ambassadors Kristen Stewart, Blackpink’s Jennie, Marion Cotillard, Penélope Cruz and Margot Robbie to Lizzo, Dua Lipa and Kendrick Lamar wore the house’s designs. And in just a few days, on May 10, creative director Virginie Viard will present the Chanel 2024 Cruise collection at an unrevealed location in Los Angeles, only the second time it’s staged a runway show in L.A. (The first was a Lagerfeld show at the Santa Monica airport in 2007.)

Amid these two big events, Chanel is foregoing throwing a splashy opening party at its new location. It doesn’t have to: The four-floor store is a star in its own right, starting with the enormous pearl-necklace-inspired sculpture that descends from the third floor nearly to the ground floor in the central atrium of the mega-boutique. Designed by Jean-Michel Othoniel and titled “Golden Lasso,” the art piece is a testament to one of the house’s most enduring signatures, pearls, beloved by founder Coco Chanel (whose photo hangs nearby) and creatively embraced successively after by Lagerfeld and Viard.

The building, designed by architect Peter Marino, is a lustrous white and remarkably minimalist, a spare crystallized-glass carapace for what’s to be discovered inside. Those contents include a first floor devoted to Chanel’s fine jewelry and watches — including pieces from its 90th anniversary high-jewelry 1932 collection — as well as handbags and other accessories, fragrances and makeup.

The second floor is stocked with shoes and ready-to-wear pieces from Viard’s spring-summer 2023 collection. Inspired by Alain Resnais’ 1961 French New Wave film Last Year at Marienbad (for which Coco Chanel designed costumes), the spring pieces include tweedy looks in pastels, light suiting options, cardigan jackets, short coat dresses and evening dresses in such fabrics as gold velvet panne, white lace, and light black chiffon.

Higher up, on floor three, are two VIP suites and dressing rooms, while the top floor is devoted to a 2,690-square-foot terrace and a private penthouse suite, also reserved for private client meetings. The store’s atrium also gives way toward the back of the building to a glass-walled, three-story garden courtyard.

“We cleaved the center to create a three-story glass atrium that brings light directly into the space,” said Marino to WWD about the architectural design. “Straight through is a semi-open courtyard garden with a sculpture from François-Xavier Lalanne. The green space serves as a reference point of orientation for every floor.”

It took a lot of time and money to carve out this much space on Rodeo. According to WWD, Chanel first bought the former Lladro building in 2013 for $100 million, then two years later paid $152 million for its own building, which it had been renting, in order to combine the two lots.

Throughout the store, there is a luxury hospitality vibe, with inviting places to sit and pillows and accents in woven textiles. One furnishings tableau features a pair of Edo-period gold-and-black lacquered Japanese Kurodana cabinets sitting next to a contemporary Ingrid Donat coffee table. In addition to the pearl chandelier in the atrium, there are artworks throughout the space, including a poppy-themed commissioned piece by Israeli artist Michal Rovner and works by Gary Simmons, Vik Muniz and Mary Corse.

Chanel is also celebrating its new flagship with a clutch of boutique exclusives including two Chanel Le Vernis nail colors (Fast Car red and Denim blue); a high-jewelry capsule collection that includes the “Lucky Star” double ring with jewels inspired by Hollywood’s Walk of Fame; a Beverly Hills edition white-gold Monsieur timepiece featuring a deep-blue grand-feu enamel dial and a jumping hour and retrograde minute display; and a pair of limited butterfly-shaped sunglasses.