Marc-Antoine Barrois boutique

Marc-Antoine Barrois opens his first Paris flagship in the prestigious Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré. This symbolic location is a return to his origins, as it is here that he began his career in Haute Couture two decades ago alongside Dominique Sirop and Hermès’ Jean-Paul Gaultier. Now it is the place where he unveils, for the first time ever, his entire universe comprising fragrances, haute couture, jewellery and accessories.  

After the enchanting world of giant snails created by the artist Jean-François Fourtou at the Galerie Véro-Dodat in Paris and the inspiration of fantastical tales, like Alice in Wonderland or Mary Poppins at his London boutique, this new space is constructed around mirrors. To create a sort of ice palace, Marc-Antoine Barrois has continued his fruitful collaboration with the architect and artist Antoine Bouillot and surrounded himself with exceptional French artisans and contemporary artists like Le Diamantaire and Jochen Mühlenbrink.  

The sculptor and street artist, Le Diamantaire, has created a signature diamond-based wall that explores our sense of infinity and depth. As soon as you enter the boutique, your attention is drawn irresistibly to this imposing wall of 85 mirror panels.  
 
This work proved particularly challenging for the design of the artificial lighting system due to the material’s changing reflections and the angles of its different surfaces. In some rooms the ceiling itself is a mirror, which makes it difficult to distinguish between what is real and what is only a reflection. In this mirrored ceiling area, that is mainly dedicated to perfumery, LV tracks and Palco LV spotlights with Medium and Flood optics and a colour temperature of 3000 K, have been installed. The different optics help to create diffuse lighting, and some are used to highlight the perfume bottles positioned on tables that are in themselves sculptures made of prestigious woods.  

In the other rooms in the boutique, false ceilings have been inserted in the stone vaults in which Laser Blade XS luminaires with different optics have been installed. These include wall washers arranged along the edges of the rooms to illuminate the walls that are adorned with paintings and photographs. In the centre, Laser Blade XS High Contrast luminaires with Wide Flood optics create the general lighting for the room. The small jewellery showcases are illuminated by recessed Laser luminaires while a single Palco Framer focuses a light beam on the Maison logo.