Even Dior worshipped Cristobal Balenciaga, calling him the “master of us all.” Now Balenciaga’s Next Generation of devotees have 5,000 square feet to congregate in, directly across from the Pacific Design Center.

If we had a Balenciaga bag for every time we called a new flagship “spacey” or “futuristic,” we’d be Mary-Kate Olsen. But Balenciaga’s second U.S. flagship—finally passing from rumor to reality—in reality, can’t be described any other way. After the automatic sliding glass doors quietly woosh closed, the atmosphere seems to adjust. Polished surfaces gleam and geometry rules. The floor is tiled with green marble hexagons—a shape echoed throughout in the form of staggered metal-and-glass podiums that display the coveted motorcycle bags, shoes and ‘60s-inspired sunglasses. Clothing is given plenty of oxygen on the racks—hardly an item comes in contact with another. And gravity must be stronger; first, our arm dropped like a rock after lifting a heavily jeweled mini-skirt, followed by our jaw after glimpsing a $50,000 price tag on a brocade suit, and finally, our heart after running smack dab into the $15,000 gown of our dreams. This was an ivory, strapless number with a long ballerina/bubble hybrid of a skirt gathered high enough in the front to reveal a lacy petticoat—a re-creation from the archives of Balanciaga, circa 1952, something that creative director Nicolas Ghesquière dips into every year. The minimalist, all-black clad staff happily laid out bags for us we obviously couldn’t afford and announced prices without a hint of “that’s very expensive, we have nothing here for you.” And if that's not alien, we don't know what is. —Lyndsey Saul