Stefano Pilati Designs The Opium Experience: A New YSL Retail Space At Crystals, Las Vegas
"I call it the opium experience," Stefano Pilati, Creative Director of Yves Saint Laurent, and of the Yves Saint Laurent's boutique retail space design. Opium is the name of the amber/reddish lacquer of the ceilings and wall panels. It is, serendipitously, also the name of the French brand's legendary perfume.
Las Vegas has two YSL Boutiques, but the one at City Center is the first to be designed in the Stefano Pilati style. Only two other YSL stores in the US feature this design at present. Historically, the store design was unveiled back in 2008 at the beginning of Paris Fashion Week. It was Pilati's hope that the design would become iconic enough to be recognizable without any logo.
"I wanted to do something that was timeless," Pilati said in an interview back then, " where the design had to go beyond my era at Saint Laurent: it had to be contemporary, with a strong, identfiable identity."
Pilati's interior design highlights a reflective and refractive brightness, due to the pale stone walls, with a sheen-like liquidity produced by the lacquer and accents of polished brass. This lighter mood was quite different from the mostly black, rough-hewn interiors that were in place in 2004 when Pilati took over the design helm from Tom Ford.
The new 4000 square foot YSL boutique at CityCenter, is considered a significant departure from much of the retail, neutral landscape seen so often in other boutique shopping areas. And included in Mr. Pilati's design, are also environmentally friendly dimensions: ductal concrete, developed to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and water waste, and energy efficient lighting, both designed to be in keeping with the ecologically-conscious CityCenter environment.
With this new design, Mr. Pilati accomplished a type of industrial, eco-sensitive luxury where every detail – even the Opium perfume-scent of the air – has been considered and reconsidered. The concept's modular design, green materials, and reinterpretation of retail space, has created a contemporary design template that, in turn, creates the opium expereience for shoppers. This deisgn will become more familiar, as it will be used in all new YSL boutiques in the future.
