Saint Laurent

Saint Laurent did something on 10 September 1969 that the clothing industry had not seen before, opening a Rive Gauche store on New Bond Street that put couture-standard design onto a rail a customer could buy from and wear the same evening.

The separation between couture and ready-to-wear had been near total until then, and Rive Gauche is the reason it stopped being. The house was founded in 1961, and more than half a century after that London opening it holds a considerably larger home a few hundred metres away on Old Bond Street.

What designer fashion Old Bond Street looks like in this store

Sharp shoulders, narrow lines and a palette that rarely moves past black, ivory and a hard metallic. Womenswear and menswear run together with leather goods, footwear, eyewear and jewellery. The room is darker and more austere than almost anything around it, and that is the house speaking rather than the lighting designer.

Laid out by category, not by season

The floor is arranged so a jacket can be compared against every other jacket rather than against the rest of its collection. It is a small decision that makes a real difference if you are buying one considered piece rather than browsing a drop.