Schiaparelli Just Turned A Bathtub Into A Bijoux Stage In Hong Kong

Asymmetrical elements, surrealist motifs, shocking pink hues and gilded facades conjure the native terrain of the Parisian fashion house, Schiaparelli at 21 Place Vendôme. Fragmented between boutique and workshop, this place has been associated with the pioneering couturier and numerous surreal masters. In a historic first for the maison, these emblematic motifs cross oceans to a Surrealist boudoir at the Landmark Prince’s Building in Hong Kong, carrying with them the maison’s mythology, vision, and recurring archetypes. This premium shopping complex is owned and managed by developer Hongkong Land in the Central Business District. Envisioned by Schiaparelli’s creative director, Daniel Roseberry, in collaboration with Stockholm-based architecture studio Halleroed, this salon-boutique reimagines the maison’s original Parisian salons with a dash of Asian warmth.

The Asian Excursion

Trailing a 2024 pop-up in Shanghai, this permanent location hints at Hong Kong’s retail recovery and spending momentum after years of upheaval within its milieu. Timed with a 6.5 per cent retail uptick, according to the latest data from the Census and Statistics Department, the salon debuts amid Landmark’s $400 million transformation. “This debut reflects our global strategy to grow with intention, selecting only key destinations while preserving the exclusivity that defines our identity,” reflects Delphine Bellini, CEO of Schiaparelli.

The maison particularly picked Hong Kong as its luxury landscape has only recently endured a structural reset, courtesy of the lack of tourism, which was once the backbone of sales. In the recession of tourist-driven excess, its luxury landscape finds a footing in a quieter ethos—akin to the brand—one shaped by consumers who value quality, minimalism, craftsmanship, and sustainability. “We are proud to bring the artistic spirit and heritage of Place Vendôme to Hong Kong through an intimate, by appointment-only salon designed for our most devoted clients,” avers Bellini.

Gilded Renaissance

With the recent surge in conscious buyers, retail is having a moment, ushering in immersive, exclusive and bespoke experiences, evident in the brand’s recent shop-in-shop at London’s emporium Harrods. Woven into this next chapter is a 1,700-square-foot gilded gallery housing the latest Spring-Summer 2026 ready-to-wear collection, leather goods, and bijoux from the Fall-Winter 2025 collection and the iconic pieces. “For the Hong Kong store, we explored Schiaparelli’s signature surrealism through select, sometimes literal expressions while consistently preserving a clear sense of luxury and refinement,” shares the design studio Halleroed team.

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Borrowing references from the ornate 18th-century townhouse on Place Vendôme in the French capital, which serves as the Schiaparelli headquarters, the Hong Kong salon is cut from the same cloth. Its opening look is corralled with a curved, brushed-gold façade—akin to Schiaparelli’s signature gilded brass—punctuated by oval apertures offering glimpses of the signature pieces. It stands as a pièce de résistance, glinting beneath the corridor’s fluorescent lights.

A Surrealist Boudoir

Within the gilded frontage is a sequence of multifarious interconnected rooms mirroring an apartment-like continuum—a part of the maison’s theatrical choreography, designed to make patrons feel intimately seen. Akin to a home, the boutique salon opens into a living area playing the role of a splendid VIP dressing room. Embellished with lacquered wood, marble-patterned floors and mirrored surfaces, it sets the stage for the immersive experience to unfold. From here, the rooms reveal themselves as a curated sequence, where trompe-l’œil details, celestial motifs, and anatomical references surface with restraint.

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As the store unfolds around a gilded heart, gold-mosaic niches appear hemmed into the walls like couture embellishments. They trace the circulation path while remaining effortlessly accessible to patrons, encouraging close viewing and physical engagement. Within the numerous alcoves, a sculptural bathtub pays homage to surrealism, altering its function to display bijoux. While surrealism hides in plain sight, a ceiling becomes the palimpsest of the brands’ symbolism, humour, and the subliminal.

The ceiling is recut as a canvas with hand-drawn illustrations by Daniel Roseberry, rendering Schiaparelli’s most enduring codes alongside references to Place Vendôme. From keyholes and padlocks to anatomical forms and celestial signs, this iconography threads the Maison’s mythology directly into the architecture. Returning to Hong Kong as a glittering constellation above, they trace Elsa Schiaparelli’s dialogues with Salvador Dalí, Jean Cocteau and Alberto Giacometti, anchoring the boutique in the Maison’s radical past. Together, these elements create a mise-en-scène that blurs the line between private apartment and imagined dreamscape.

The boutique salon offers a paradoxical take on luxury in Hong Kong, a city defined by vertical living. With apartments accounting for the dominant mode of living, according to a recent Statista survey, in which  86% of Hong Kong respondents reported living in apartments—the highest proportion among the 39 countries studied, the maison’s apartment-like salon feels intuitive. “This opening marks an important milestone for the Maison,” notes Bellini. This sentiment is echoed by the Studio Halleroed team, who describe it as “a very fun and inspiring collaboration with Daniel Roseberry and his team.” Against the backdrop of spectacle-led, often mindless luxury, the space proposes a script attuned to today’s discerning buyer that favours experiences stitched with meaning, narrative, and craft over excess.