Owner: Chanel Completion Date: September 2010 Program: A single-story, 4,170-square-foot Chanel boutique located in the heart of SoHo. The store includes a ready-to-wear department, a watch corner, a beauty and fragrance area, a handbag bar, and a shoe section. Design concept and solution: Inspired by SoHo's artistic history, the architects sought to channel classic Chanel motifs and the New York art world with specially commissioned fixtures and artworks. When customers enter, they are met by a 10-foot-tall acrylic bottle of Chanel No. 5 outfitted with screens that play brand-themed videos. The interior finishes are classic Chanel black and white: a

Standing by the handbag bar at the Louis Vuitton Maison (House of Vuitton) on New Bond Street, in London’s Mayfair district, one can observe a strange kind of tourism. The most multilingual of London sales assistants are available to sell a $4,000 handbag to just about anyone. Wherever these tourists come from, you can bet there is a Louis Vuitton (LV) closer than London. But the new store, with 16,146 square feet of retail space, is intended to be unique. “New Bond Street is the most high-end shopping street in the world,” explains New York City—based Peter Marino, the project’s