On 5 November, Hublot opened its new boutique in the prestigious Istinye Park shopping centre in Istanbul. Sixty-six stores of the brand have been opened so far since 2007. For the opening of its first boutique, the Maison chose Paris, the capital of fashion and luxury; since then, openings have followed one after the other at a rapid pace. In the coming weeks, boutiques will be opened in Houston Texas, Munich, Germany, Bratislava, Lucerne, Switzerland, Santa Fe, Mexico as well as three new boutiques in China, in Shenyang, Changchun and Chengdu. The current opening marks the advent of the new concept of fitting out Hublot shops around the world, a concept developed entirely in-house. The Istanbul boutique, with a surface area of around 50 square metres, reinterprets the concept of "fusion" dear to the brand, while proposing a new combination of materials, namely brushed silvered oak and wool for the floors, matelassé panels in soft fibre to cover the walls, interspersed with elegant elements in black wood and chrome-plated steel to enhance the presence of the shop windows. A fusion of materials, but also a fusion of styles, for the more private areas, where golden velvet is combined with a particularly elegant fabric to create a contemporary reinterpretation of 16th century mouldings. The lighting of the shop windows has also been revolutionised, with the installation of targeted light beams that particularly highlight the watches, movements and precious stones. The whole suggests a warm, muted ambience in shades of black and grey, complemented by contemporary furnishings such as sofas and armchairs in grain leather handmade in Italy.
