World’s most beautiful commercial stores of 2025 chosen by Prix Versailles

The Prix Versailles has unveiled its list of the world’s most beautiful emporiums for 2025. The list of eight emporiums “represents the pinnacle of the beauty that commerce is capable of producing,” according to Prix Versailles Secretary General Jérôme Gouadain.

In December, three projects from the list will be given additional titles of a World Title – Prix Versailles, Interior, or Exterior. The unveiling of the emporium shortlist comes shortly after the organization chose its shortlist for restaurants, hotels, airports, and museums. 

Below, we have published the eight projects comprising the World's Most Beautiful Emporium list 2025. You can compare the projects with those of previous years by following our ongoing coverage of the series here.

Cartier by Friedmann & Versace

Brussels, Belgium

Description: Cartier’s connection to Belgium dates back to 1912, when the Maison created two diadems for Queen Elisabeth. Now, arts and crafts have come together with extraordinary expertise to initiate an unprecedented dialogue between nature and architecture, in a modern reinterpretation of Cartier’s most emblematic imagery.

Louis Vuitton Taikoo Hui by Shohei Shigematsu / OMA

Shanghai, China

Description: An invitation to cruise through eight themed rooms, each as impressive as the last, including Origins, Voyage, Perfume, Books (featuring a library trunk belonging to the Maison where Ernest Hemingway kept his manuscripts), Sport, Fashion & Leathergoods (retracing the evolution of Louis Vuitton’s iconic handbags) and Workshop (where various production secrets are revealed).

Tianjin Zhongshuge by X+Living

Tianjin, China

Description: The project reimagines a modern structure through a complete architectural and interior renovation, blending it into the neighbourhood’s historical context. Here, the traditional materials of brick and metal are confidently reinterpreted for the ages. Horizontal gaps inspired by window blinds disrupt the dense texture, softening the mass and allowing light to filter through. The monumental – even dizzying – interior is endowed with large, ascending arched openings. Still, a spectacular, unified logic provides for easy circulation within this forest of books.

Tiffany & Co. Montenapoleone by Peter Marino Architect

Milan, Italy

Description: In the Quadrilatero della moda, Tiffany & Co. has inaugurated its biggest European flagship store yet inside the neoclassical 19th century Palazzo Taverna. Aside from the façade featuring blue Mura- no glass lunettes along with artistic windows merging Tiffany’s legendary design with iconic Milanese style, Peter Marino Architect has elevated the brand’s cultural messaging on art, history and heritage across the building’s three storeys.

Rolex Ginza by Curiosity

Tokyo, Japan

Description: The new Rolex flagship store is an extraordinary reinterpretation, a seamless blend of the famous watchmaker’s visual identity with Japanese aesthetics. For this four-storey project spanning more than 1,000 m2, the studio Curiosity delivered a unique façade where hints of deep green filter down from the first floor, delicately diffusing the brand’s iconic colour to the street. From there, the entrance discreetly guides visitors into a tranquil interior just waiting to be explored.

Toraya Ginza Building by Kajima and Naito

Tokyo, Japan

Description: Everything here is designed to foster a sense of a total, unified whole. A two-storey terrace spanning Floors 4 and 5 allows visitors to enjoy cool breezes while still feeling the lively atmosphere of the streets. A rooftop garden steps down to a liberating space on Floor 12 with a panoramic view. Turning architecture into delicious, intimate joy: through the interplay of brilliance and transparency, the use of warm colours, and alternations between solids and voids, Toraya is a new icon in the Ginza district.

Apple The Exchange TRX by Foster + Partners

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Description: In response to Malaysia’s tropical climate, its fins act like louvred shutters, carefully angled to control solar radiation inside a monumental atrium. The store is laid out across three levels. The display tables are on the lowest level, which connects directly to the rest of the mall. People can take a sculptural glass and quartz staircase or a glazed lift to the shop’s other levels, enjoying multiple lines of sight all the way up to the lush tropical garden at the top.

Longchamp SoHo by Thomas Heatherwick

New York, United States

Description: The space is laid out around a sculptural stairwell made up of 55 tonnes of steel ribbons. Named The Landscape, it feels like a smooth, lyrical climb up a hillside. Reconfigured in the brand’s iconic Lumière green, the different areas have been refreshed with bold artistic references, like rugs swirling around pillars, as if paint were streaming down from the ceiling. Rounded lines here and elsewhere contribute to the flow and bounty of the customer experience.