Dolce & Gabbana open beauty and accessories store in Covent Garden in world-first move

Dolce & Gabbana has opened “a first-of-its-kind” combined beauty and accessories store in London’s Covent Garden, underscoring the shopping area’s appeal to high-end beauty operators and also its wider status as a key London shopping district.

The store is in landlord Shaftesbury Capital’s estate, specifically in the historic Market Building, and marks the brand’s return to Covent Garden following the success of its Christmas pop-up on the Piazza in 2022.

It features an exclusive selection of cosmetics plus signature fragrance collections, as well as a make-up consultation area. 

And it’s interesting that the label has chosen to offer accessories there too for the first time globally. Adding accessories has been a key trend of recent mass, premium and high-end beauty openings — Harrods’ H Beauty for instance also sells sunglasses and that category is a key feature of beauty specialists such as Superdrug and Boots. In the case of Dolce & Gabbana, sunglasses are also a prominent feature in the store. 

As for the store itself, it’s fitted out with gold panelling and monochrome tiles, with the décor aiming to blend “the heritage charm of the Market Building with trademark Italian glamour”.

As mentioned, Covent Garden is a popular destination for beauty retailers (and their customers) and it also has stores offering the category from Chanel, Diptyque, Guerlain, Miller Harris, Penhalgon’s, Tom Ford, and Charlotte Tilbury. 

In fact, Tilbury only opened its significantly upsized boutique there that includes its world-first Skin Spa, in a prominent anchor unit at the beginning of the year.

William Oliver, Retail Leasing Director at Shaftesbury Capital, said: “Dolce & Gabbana’s commitment to blending tradition with innovation is what makes Covent Garden the perfect location to debut a world-first concept. Building on the noteworthy success of its pop-up in 2022, the brand has reinvested in the destination, showcasing Covent Garden’s appeal for internationally renowned fashion houses to put down permanent roots.”