Chanel Opens a Dramatic Two-Story Boutique in Dallas

“Don’t spend time beating on a wall, hoping to transform it into a door.” Those words from Coco Chanel herself are especially appropriate, given that walls were knocked down and grand new doors were installed for the recent unveiling of the two-story Dallas Chanel store in Highland Park Village. For those who don’t remember, Chanel is back in its former footprint after relocating into the space formerly occupied by Anthropologie for the past two years of construction.

The house’s go-to architect who created the Dallas space is Peter Marino, the leather-clad visionary with a cult-like following. The stunning residential-inspired boutique is an homage to Gabrielle Chanel’s historic apartment on rue Cambon in Paris. There are nine individual salons within the two floors, showcasing ready-to-wear, shoes, handbags and accessories, watches and fine jewelry, fragrance and beauty, all defined by custom plaster walls in pearlescent and matte finishes, handpainted with lacquer, and upholstered with textiles. Custom woven fabrics and wall finishes are are a blend of serene neutral tones paired with a vibrant fresh color palette of bright pinks, golds, and yellows (we imagine it’s what heaven must look like), as well as custom chandeliers created by maison d’art Goossens.

Chanel knows the importance of the relationship between fashion and art. There’s a dynamic mix of antique and contemporary furniture and decorative art including 1950s ‘Etere’ chairs by the Italian furniture designer Augusto Bozzi; lion sculptures from the late Italian ceramicist Bruno Gambone; custom gilt tables from the French-Swedish artist Ingrid Donat; and a 12-paneled 18th-century Chinese Coromandel screen. 

At the foot of its sweeping Sivec marble staircase sits a Peter Marino bronze commode and an acrylic block filled with oil, a commissioned piece by the Russian conceptual artist Andrei Molodkin; there’s a Johan Creten sculptural urn from the series Urnes – Golden Waves in glazed stoneware with gold and patina luster; Francois Morellet’s Strip-teasing n.7, 2005; and Mario Deluigi’s Grattage G. J. 93, circa 1960, among other works.

The reimagined Chanel Dallas store has the Spring Summer 2024 collection in stock — an homage to the gardens of the Villa Noailles, a storied estate just a short distance from the sea, up in the hills of Hyères, that was designed in 1929 by architect Robert Mallet-Stevens. The dressing gowns in multicolored, black, or pink tweed; suits in neoprene; and dresses and trousers in lace are adorned with floral motifs that were inspired by the villa’s outdoor spaces, from its cubist checkered gardens to its sunken flower beds.

With Smythson date books filled to the brim with cocktail parties … charity lunches … and other fashionable soirees, we’ll likely be bumping into you while perusing the stunning new boutique.