Class Act

When you're one of the top luxury brands in the world, everything is expected to be perfect - even when you're closed for renovations.

With its Marina Bay Sands boutique undergoing a major overhaul after seven years, Chanel has opened a pop-up store to maintain its presence in the interim. Except that in the Chanel universe, its idea of a temporary store is nothing like a mere mortal's definition. At 3,000 sq ft, divided into four rooms that look more like the walk-in wardrobes of the uber-rich, this pop-up is better described, in Chanel's words, as an ephemeral boutique.

This is the first such boutique in Singapore and comes after similar concepts in Rome, Aspen, Tokyo and other exotic locations, including a two-time residency at the upscale French ski resort Courchevel, and an annual version in Saint Tropez. But what makes Singapore's boutique more special is that it plans to redesign the store interiors (three times, to be exact) for each new collection brought in.