Doesn’t everyone love a dramatic staircase?

Whether it’s Audrey Hepburn imploring “Take the picture! Take the picture!” as she glides down the Daru Staircase wearing Givenchy in Funny Face, Joan Crawford standing imperiously atop an ultra-glam Hollywood staircase in Queen Bee, or Coco Chanel making fashion history with her famous mirrored staircase on the Rue Cambon, examples are plenty in showing how beautiful architectural design, and theatrical flair, can turn one’s descent into a room a brief moment of performance art that makes a person look and feel, well… special.

And now San Francisco’s Union Square has such a staircase.

With the opening of the new Barneys New York Men’s Store at 2 Stockton Street, every shopper can descend to the main selling floor on a staircase that’s a true work of art.

In what must be one of the finest renovation projects in San Francisco retail, they’ve transformed an ordinary basement space into one of the City’s most sophisticated stores, designed in the same style as their stunning new store in New York’s Chelsea District.

The beautiful new space includes exclusive collections from Public School, Hood by Air, Russell Westbrook x Tim Coppens, NSF, and Fear of God; luxury tailoring and sportswear from Isaia, Sartorio, Boglioli, and Luciano Barbera, as well as an extensive selection of designer sportswear, shoes and accessories from Givenchy, Saint Laurent, Valentino, Lanvin, Balenciaga, Balmain, Fendi, Rick Owens, and Thom Browne.

Barneys New York's New Men's Store at 2 Stockton Street, San Francisco, (Photo courtesy of Barneys)

If this is what they can do to a basement, we absolutely can't wait to see what they do with the rest of the store, including the addition of Freds restaurant, over the next year!