PARIS — MAC Cosmetics is ratcheting up its international profile with an otherworldly flagship set to open on the tourist-clogged Champs-Elysées here on Tuesday.
And the Paris unit could be only the first of many as the brand plots an aggressive push overseas. Another five flagships could be in the offing, including units in Beijing, Shanghai, London, Rome and possibly Tokyo and Seoul, according to Karen Buglisi, global brand president of MAC Cosmetics. These will join two more Paris store openings before the end of the fiscal year in June 2014. In the Europe, Middle East and Africa region alone, 70 MAC stores were added this year.
“It has to be the right place, it has to have the right opportunity for business and the right opportunity for exposure,” Buglisi said.
James Gager, senior vice president and creative director of MAC, added, “And they will be very carefully designed, so it feels relevant to the market we are entering into — but still feels MAC.”
Like a Thunderdome of beauty, the Paris store has a soaring ceiling in an elliptical arch, a gleaming white floor — and makeup as far as the eye can see. Futuristic touches include a columnar LED display featuring colorful, amorphic forms gliding around, and highly reflective black glass panels.