Chanel’s beauty boutique in Emporium Melbourne is sleek and circular with glossy, black-and-white surfaces with gold accents, upholstered sofas and back-lit champa flowers. Every aspect of the space’s aesthetic is designed to reflect the famous Chanel N°5 bottle.
While Chanel’s four-storey flagship boutique on Flinders Lane caters for fashion, the boutique in Emporium is for beauty and perfume alone.
The store houses L’Espace Parfum, where you can learn about the origins of each fragrance and sample them via ceramic tigettes – the purest way to experience scent. Before applying any fragrance to the skin, crème pour le corps from the Les Exclusifs range is massaged into your skin to extend the life of the fragrance and intensify its smell.
Throughout the boutique, and indeed the brand as a whole, there are recurring themes. Tweed, Chanel’s signature fabric, features prominently in the new boutique’s layout, with furniture, mirrors and wall panels all patterned with the classic weave. Similarly, beige is a chief colour used in the brand’s fashion collections and is complemented by a parfum named Beige and a deluxe cosmetics line, Les Beiges. Naturally, all are designed to be worn together.
Everything in the store is shiny and seductive, and promises to indulge the senses. Not only will you come away feeling completely pampered but also as though you have gained insight into the creation of this French style icon. It’s a treat you don’t even have to leave Melbourne for.
