At Printemps, the fare is as much a part of the destination as the shopping, luring people off of their phones and into the brick-and-mortar spaces, encouraging exploration and the chance to linger. “We want more of a hospitality feel to the whole thing,” Gourdet says. It’s an intentional cohesion, where dining and shopping are stitched together in one polished sensory experience.
Dining inside a department store isn’t new. Barney’s had Fred’s, Bergdorf Goodman has BG, Ralph Lauren unveiled RL Restaurant in 1999, with dozens of branded coffee shops to follow around the world. But this latest wave of high-fashion dining, with Gourdet and a new guard of culinary voices, suggests a palpable cultural shift. Dior tapped Dominique Crenn for its Café Dior in Dallas and Monsieur Dior restaurant in Beverly Hills, Tiffany & Co.’s Blue Box Café in New York is run by Daniel Boulud, and Gucci Osteria, guided by Massimo Bottura’s team, is also in Beverly Hills (where it earned a Michelin star), as well as Seoul, Tokyo, and Florence. So why are fashion’s biggest names now going all in on hospitality?
“Post-pandemic, maisons [or luxury fashion houses] are reinventing flagships from static product showcases into dynamic experience hubs,” says Claudia D’Arpizio, senior partner and global head of fashion and luxury at Bain & Company. “Food and beverage serve as magnets for traffic, dwell time, and repeat visits.”
That strategy reflects a broader redefinition of luxury itself. For much of the modern era, wealth bought prestige. Status could be acquired, worn, and displayed in the form of, say, a designer bag or rare watch. But according to Bain’s research, “experiential luxury” now accounts for nearly 60% of global luxury spending. Affluence is expressed not only through objects, but also through access. Dining, travel, and wellness have all become potent status symbols, and luxury retailers are embracing this new era.
“Today, a growing share of the world’s top 50 luxury brands operate at least one branded or codeveloped F&B concept,” D’Arpizio says. The projects range from cafés and bistros to fine dining restaurants and chef collaborations, and mark “a sharp rise from only a handful of examples five years ago,” D’Arpizio continues. “What began as decorative or marketing-driven pop-ups has evolved into a strategic pillar of brand experience and customer engagement.”
Economics may be a motivating factor. After a decade of rapid growth, global luxury sales have flattened while experience-based spending continues to climb. In plain terms, that means choosing to buy memories over things—flying somewhere to see a blockbuster museum exhibition or a Taylor Swift concert, or rolling cavatelli in a hands-on pasta class with a local chef. Or, for the style set, maybe it’s biting into a Tiffany blue petit four during afternoon tea at the luxury