Gucci is setting down its suitcases on tony Rue Saint-Honoré for its first everlasting boutique dedicated to its Gucci Valigeria travel line. 

Sitting opposite Moynat and just a few doors away from Goyard in an area formerly occupied by Off-White, the two,900-square-foot unit positioned at 229 Rue Saint-Honoré opened Tuesday. 

“The opening of our first Gucci Valigeria boutique on Rue Saint-Honoré represents the following stage in our ongoing strategy to bolster our leadership within the travel category,” the Italian house’s president and chief executive officer Marco Bizzarri told WWD in an email.

The home’s travel range holds a selected place in the home, as trunks, suitcases and hatboxes were the primary items that founder Guccio Gucci offered after opening his store in Florence in 1921. 

Bizzari explained that the concept for the travel line’s everlasting locations had been inspired directly by the unique Florentine store and a three-month pop-up in London coinciding with the launch of the Savoy luggage line that began in October.

The three-month residency in London, which concludes at the top of the 12 months, nodded to its origins story by taking up the tea shop at The Savoy in London, where Guccio Gucci had been a luggage porter on the turn of the twentieth century. His observations of guests coming out and in with their exquisite luggage inspired him to start out an artisanal luggage atelier.

“Gucci Valigeria is a strong reminder of our Florentine roots and our timeless craft,” said Bizzarri, calling the road a “symbol of [the Gucci] legacy, reinterpreted through the ages for the travelers and modern-day explorers of each era.”

The Saint-Honoré store, particularly, was created to be “a portal into our ever-expanding world of travel and discovery,” the chief continued. 

Its 2,000-square-foot retail space is spread over two floors, inspired by the heyday of rail travel in the course of the Belle-Epoque, vintage lighting fixtures and all. Window displays take cues from luggage carts, while the inside’s neutral-hued canvas surfaces and dark walnut furniture and finishes go for an impression of well-traveled opulence.

The bottom floor evokes a tony train station, with the money register masquerading as a welcome desk and piles of bags as decor. Travel essentials comparable to pajamas, eye masks, beauty products and pet accessories can be offered here. Exotic-skin versions of its weekender duffel and one-of-a-kind trunks also take pride of place. 

On the primary floor, brass shelving nods to the racks present in old-fashioned trains, while the ceiling is modeled after the arched roof of carriages. A loom-woven carpet in a tartan motif and plush banquette seating give a comfy vibe.

The Paris store offers the complete range of Gucci’s travel line from totes and backpacks to garment bags, hat cases and suitcases. Among the many styles showcased are the Gucci Savoy line, which plays with the brand’s monogram, its distinctive stripe and the double G hardware, in addition to the top-handle Gucci Bauletto handbag model. 

Trunks may even be available in addition to its newly launched and “Off the Grid” version in regenerated Econyl nylon. It can even be the primary retail debut of the freshly launched aluminum trolley suitcase, created in collaboration with Italian luxury luggage specialist FPM Milano.

Sold in Gucci’s physical retail network and online, the travel category has seen a “very positive momentum,” following the early November launch of the Valigeria campaign featuring Ryan Gosling and shot by photographer Glen Luchford. This was particularly visible within the “U.S., Europe and South Asia, where travel and tourist flows have restarted strongly following the comfort of COVID-19-related restrictions,” Bizzarri continued.

Meanwhile, vintage luggage pieces included in Gucci’s Vault Vintage drops had also generated “great excitement,” he said, attributing this to the “timelessness that is of course related to travel.”

Bizzarri said the brand would proceed to boost its offer, each with vintage pieces and innovations by way of functions and materials comparable to the recently launched aluminum trolleys.

Further Gucci Valigeria stores in “other iconic city destinations” all over the world are within the works, but Bizzarri didn’t further detail a timeline or locations.

Travel itself can be a longstanding source of inspiration within the Gucci-verse that saw former creative director Alessandro Michele, who exited the brand in November, say that “travel had never been something purely physical” for the brand on the launch of the Gosling-fronted campaign.

“A Gucci suitcase is a magical suitcase,” Michele continued on the time, describing the creatives who had chosen items from the brand as individuals who “realize the importance of creativity in service of the development of imaginary places.”