Canada Goose specializes in protection against the elements — and its parkas become all but essential as you head further north in the brand’s homeland. But when it comes to the company’s latest outpost in Paris, where couture is constantly being walked down the runway, and where the weather conditions are far more forgiving than in somewhere like Nunavut, the majority of shoppers will be evaluating Canada Goose designs in terms of style as much as performance. 

Then again, the French Alps are just a short trek away, and an adventurous spirit runs through the veins of the brand’s target customer. With all that in mind, Canada Goose’s new two-floor boutique on the Champs-Élysées appropriately captures both the extremity and the elegance of the arctic climate. Credit for that high level of polar polish goes to Snøhetta, a Norwegian firm that knows a thing or two of its own about sub-zero temperatures. The studio’s design kicks off a fresh chapter for Canada Goose’s retail operations, establishing new visual standards and display elements that will be adopted across subsequent stores all around the world.

Knowing this, the design team embraced the idea of boundlessness as a guiding principle — and immediately set out to create an environment that encourages undaunted exploration. Upon entry, curving walls demarcate different zones while establishing a sense of flow that leads visitors deeper into the store. Meanwhile, a sinuous ceiling swoops and curls throughout the space, with circular cuts introducing glowing oculi above various clusters of coats, sweaters and shoes. Heightening the store’s connection to nature, the lighting system (executed by Lisa Marchesi Studio) alternates between different hues and intensities based on the time of day and the season.

Product displays, for their part, are assembled using a versatile kit of parts that Snøhetta developed to be used across future Canada Goose retail boutiques and flagships. Selected for its durability, ease of repair, and recyclability, aluminum brings a cool, frosty feel to the space. Tiered display platforms bolted together with a series of aluminum panels have the geometry of oversized ice cubes, while ridged grey cushions and stools resemble gentle snow drifts.

To temper these white-out conditions, the store also introduces a series of warmer details. Wooden walls nod to cozy Canadian chalets, but also to Parisian design history, thanks to the use of French oak, which is a fixture of Haussmannian interiors. Sure enough, while future Canada Goose stores will share a cohesive visual language, each one will be individually tailored to its specific setting.

Another moment of comfort arrives courtesy of Anishinaabe artist Michael Belmore’s Smouldering Among the Car and Ash, a stone sculpture that takes the shape of a firepit. The piece is one of several works curated by art consultancy firm Namara to add to the store’s strong identity. Around the corner from Belmore’s piece, Inuk artist Ningiukulu Teevee’s Tiptoe Through the Tundra drawing depicting a traditional Inuit Amauti parka is reimagined as a large-scale plaster mural (shown above); nearby, a modern Amauti created through Canada Goose’s Project Atigi program (which runs in collaboration with Inuit designers) is given pride of place in a wooden wall niche. Upstairs, another wall showcases Nuna/Land, a print made by Japanese-Canadian artist Kumiko Hatanaka using pigments sourced from Nunavut iron ore mines.

Evoking a blizzard but also moments of refuge, the overall concept reinforces the role of a parka as a source of shelter from the storm. Of course, in this case, the outer layer is made not from wind- and water-resistant polyester, but from metal: a robust aluminum façade fabricated by Italy’s MCM Arredi in Metallo to nod to the ruggedly elegant structures that define the North.