Alaïa just gave Miami its main character moment. The Parisian house opened its first Miami boutique on June 30 at 171 NE 39th Street, and good luck missing it – since the entire building is wrapped in pink mosaic tile, inside and out, floor to ceiling. Cher Horowitz said it best decades ago: “It’s an Alaïa!” Now the line finally has a Miami address to match.
Swedish studio Halleroed designed the space, using Miami’s Art Deco history as a starting point and filtering it through Alaïa’s own vision of curves and precision. “We wanted to create a dialogue between the identity of Alaïa and the character of Miami,” said Ruxandra Halleröd of the studio.
A Facade That Blooms
At the center of the ground floor, the tile seems to drop straight from the ceiling into a suspended lantern above the seating area. Outside, a circular cutout in the mosaic facade frames a planter designed by French botanist Patrick Blanc, the same collaborator behind the green wall at Alaïa’s Paris flagship on rue de Marignan. In Miami, his living wall reads as a nod to the city’s own greenery, climbing right into the architecture.
Rooms Built for the Wardrobe
Inside, circular rooms are devoted to footwear, while the upper level, reserved for ready-to-wear, feels more private, with mirrored folding screens multiplying light and reflection. Black leather, metal and glass cut a graphic line through the soft, pastel-toned interior.
Design nerds will want to linger by the furniture. Martin Brûlé curated the mix with Reinhard Müller’s Chambre à Air shelving, François Arnal’s Formule 1 lounge chair in conversation with seating by Philippe Starck, Vladimir Kagan sofas next to Brûlé’s own tables, and the Mollo sofa by Philippe Malouin, first shown on Alaïa’s Winter Spring 2024 runway, paired with a Tom Dixon lounge chair and Ron Arad’s Konx table. Even the dressing rooms get the treatment being furnished with chairs by Gerard Kuijpers.
The Maison is calling it a new chapter, one that stays true to what’s always defined the House. Judging by the pink tile alone, Miami’s already sold.