PARIS — Giorgio Armani has bid a final adieu to the Place Vendôme.
The Giorgio Armani boutique there at No. 6 went dark earlier this month, with plans to open a new, similarly sized location at 18 Avenue Montaigne in January. In the interim, customers are directed to a temporary store at 50 Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, which opened last Thursday.
Boasting stone walls and floors that echoed the facade, the Vendôme unit opened in September 1999.
An Armani spokesman said the designer feels Avenue Montaigne — a luxury strip that recently welcomed new boutiques from Bottega Veneta, Chloé and Jimmy Choo — is a stronger fashion destination in Paris. By contrast, Place Vendôme has reverted to its fine jewelry roots, the spokesman added.
Designed by Armani in collaboration with architect Claudio Silvestrin, the new 4,300-square-foot Giorgio Armani boutique on Avenue Montaigne will carry women’s and men’s ready-to-wear and accessories, plus a lower level suite for men’s made-to-measure clothing.
The store will be the second Armani address on the avenue following July’s inauguration of a showroom at No. 2 for the designer’s couture collection, Armani Privé.
In June, Armani also shuttered his Emporio Armani unit at 25 Place Vendôme, citing a dearth of fashion shoppers in the area. There is an Emporio Armani flagship on Boulevard Saint-Germain on the Left Bank.