Sezane may personify Parisian style, but it feels right at home on the King’s Road in Chelsea – the location of its third London boutique, which opens today, October 23. It’s the brand’s first new shop to open in Europe since it announced a recent change in direction.
“I’ve always associated [the King’s Road] with the creative freedom of the Swinging Sixties and its bold colour palette, which has inspired many of our collections,” Morgane Sézalory, who founded Sezane 13 years ago, tells Broadsheet. “It felt like a natural setting for Sezane’s next chapter in London.”
The Chelsea shop is a visible example of the brand’s new approach. Two years in the making, the shift sees a more editorial and elevated house style: the handwritten logo has become a sharp, all-caps serif, and campaign imagery is more Phoebe Philo-cool than playful bohemia.
“Turning 40 gave me some distance, a chance to look at Sezane with fresh eyes and ask myself what I wanted to see next,” Sézalory says about finding a more intentional rhythm for a brand that’s been B Corp-certified since 2021. “I had been imagining some pieces for a while, and I felt ready to give those ideas more room.”
It all takes shape, most literally, in the new autumn ’26 collection. The brand’s signature Peter Pan collars, gingham and coral Gaspard cardigans now coexist with funnel-neck coats, ’90s-style leather looks and sculptural gold cuffs, with a deeper focus on material and luxurious fabrications. The new Sezane is angular and assured, where it was once soft and whimsical. “The Lior raincoat, for example, captures that exploration beautifully, while remaining easy to wear,” Sézalory says. “I love how these pieces sit alongside our familiar blouses, prints and signatures. There’s something exciting about finding a new balance between things you have always loved and things you haven’t tried before.”
The charming, tiered L’Appartement Chelsea (Sezane calls its boutiques appartements, a nod to cosy Parisian pads) is designed in close collaboration between Sézalory and Paris-based interior architecture studio Claves, and stocks the brand’s ready-to-wear, knitwear, shoes and accessories, as well as a newborn selection from Petit Sezane (which is only available in London from the Chelsea shop).
“I’m drawn to places that feel collected over time, where every object has a reason to be there, but nothing is perfectly matched,” Sézalory says. Bespoke pieces join vintage furniture sourced from across France and the UK, with daybeds from Ornamentum, tables from Atkris Studio and Pamono, art from vintage shops Desuet and Tarn London, and many more. It’s a lived-in mélange, and Sézalory hopes buyers approach their own wardrobes with similar regard: a buy well, buy less, make it last attitude.
“I have always loved clothes you return to season after season, finding different ways to style them over time,” she says. “If the way we curate our collections inspires someone to choose mindfully, wear a piece often, and keep it for years, that is deeply fulfilling for us.”
And while Sezane’s new strategy has copped some criticism online, anyone second-guessing it need only see the weekend queues at the brand’s Notting Hill and Marylebone boutiques.
“I like to think London and Paris share a creative affinity: a love of colour, an appreciation for a statement piece and the pleasure of putting an outfit together.”
Sezane Chelsea
145 King's Road, SW3 5TX
Hours:
Mon to Sat 10am–7pm
Sun midday–6pm
