COME IN, STAY AWHILE

BY BOOTH MOORE

At Bottega Veneta, Jacques Marie Mage and more, retail stores feel like home

November 12, 2025

There’s a new design mood sweeping through some of the stores at South Coast Plaza that’s cozier, homier and more residential.

Moving on from minimalism, brands are creating immersive spaces that are layered and inviting.

The newly renovated Bottega Veneta store makes a memorable first impression, welcoming shoppers in underneath a skylight resembling a James Turrell “Skyspace,” with a gorgeous round walnut wood entry table set with flowers.

The interior is finished with the kind of multi-colored terrazzo one might find in a Venetian palazzo, and it has four intimate lounge areas with Raphael Raffel croissant-shaped chairs and sofas from the 1970s, produced by Cassina in custom Bottega Veneta emerald green leather. There’s also a sleek terrazzo bar where one can get better acquainted with the latest Ciao Ciao bag—and have a glass of Champagne.

Retail spaces that feel like home, or like a dream home, encourage dwell time, and reflect the evolution of luxury. Because today, alongside the latest runway look and shoe, shoppers want experiences, and they want to be immersed in their favorite brands.

Luxury leaders have evolved beyond fashion into lifestyle categories, including home design, restaurants, hotels and even private clubs like Casa Cucinelli, where friends of the brand can privately shop while being immersed in the dolce vita of designer Brunello Cucinelli, down to the kitchen made of marble sourced from Michelangelo’s famous quarry.

Cucinelli brings his personal touch to his South Coast Plaza store, too, which has cozy cream boucle armchairs for enjoying an espresso, a sweets cart with his daughter’s favorite Baci chocolates, and some of his favorite philosophy books by Rousseau and Aristotle for a little light reading.Indeed, few styles have been as enduring—or as endlessly reinvented—as bohemian fashion. What began as a social movement in early 19th century Paris has become a perennial source of inspiration for designers, celebrities, and festival goers.

When London jewelry designer Jessica McCormack opens her highly anticipated first West Coast boutique at South Coast Plaza early next year, she will surely bring the “home away from home” feel of her Mayfair and Madison Avenue townhouses, which have curated art collections, antiques, and objets next to her exquisite jewels.

“I like the idea of the interiors and artworks inviting visitors to take their time in the store, whether it’s getting comfortable on the sofas, picking out your favorite painting, or having a look through the library,” McCormack told JCK magazine of her approach to retail.

They are not stores but “galleries” that sell Jacques Marie Mage eyewear, according to the brand language. At the South Coast Plaza one, the sumptuous corner lounge with wood siding, spaceship-like red leather seating by Paris-based furniture maker Hervet, Navajo rugs and Acoma pottery, is a chic place to contemplate a new pair of haute handcrafted spectacles and peruse the latest issue of the “Jacques Revue.” Taking pride of place, the JMM Gallery also features paintings by two Southern California-connected artists, Connor Tingley and Matt McCormick, and an indoor cactus garden.

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I like the idea of the interiors and artworks inviting visitors to take their time in the store, whether it’s getting comfortable on the sofas, picking out your favorite painting, or having a look through the library.

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JESSICA McCORMICK TO JCK MAGAZINE

Tory Burch’s new store has a sense of curation inspired by her homes, with a marble tilework floor in the style of Carlos Scarpa, custom rugs, a bespoke daybed, and ceramic pieces she selected herself.

Meanwhile, Australian designer Camilla Franks brings the element of hospitality forward at her “Hotel of Curiosity,” the retail embodiment of her adventuresome brand, which centers each fashion collection around artistic prints inspired by a different travel destination.

“We are unique for standing out,” says Franks of her love of maximalism, reflected in the store’s vintage wood hotel check-in counter meets cash wrap, hand-illustrated wallpaper, mosaic floors, custom light shades and embellished animal head finishings. Turkish delight and hibiscus tea are on offer, to go with the latest “From Love With Turkiye” collection, and the Camilla Express luxe train car installation makes an elegant backdrop for a selfie.

Contemporary brands are also bringing touches of hospitality and home to the South Coast Plaza shopping experience.

Zara Man (the brand’s third store in the world dedicated to menswear) showcases its casual basics, suiting and accessories in distinct rooms, one that has the feel of a library with low slung leather chairs and rosewood shelves containing interior design books by Kelly Wearstler and Amber Lewis.

Meanwhile, Collegium—Nick Sisombath’s L.A.-based brand of reenvisioned classic sneakers and shoes—has the cool of a clubhouse. The store’s living room features a well-worn leather couch and a hi-fi stereo with vintage vinyl records, which like the Noguchi table and Eames chairs, are from the founder’s personal collection.

“Customers, especially Gen Z, want to have a moment away from social media…And when they buy something, they want it to create a memory,” he says of his vision for the experiential space, which also has a 1971 BMW 2002 car inside, and will open a café later this year.

“Collegium is supposed to be a community,” Sisombath says of his brand. “I’m probably the worst salesman but there are a lot of moments where I just want to hang out.”