Neiman Marcus takes customers to the beach — with legendary French fashion house

Neiman Marcus is celebrating its newest exclusive collection with an immersive “retail-tainment” experience.

The luxury retailer, in partnership with Balmain, has unveiled Balmain Beach Club,  an exclusive collection of ready-to-wear and handbags inspired by the French Riviera. The 14-piece line is debuting in 10 stores, online and through remote selling channels.

The new collection is being launched with a full-scale 2,5000-sq.-ft. installation in the retailer's Dallas NorthPark store. From now through May 5, customers will be transported to a glamorous beachfront clubhouse complete with black and white striped umbrellas, lounge chairs, an ivy-covered pergola and visual details using the Balmain archive print. The company described the activation as the latest iteration of its retail-tainment strategy.

The partnership supports Neiman Marcus Group's growth luxury growth strategy to offer expertly curated product assortment for customers. Balmain Beach Club follows the successful exclusive launches of the Barbie x Balmain and Summer Set collections over the past two years.

The collection will be amplified digitally through a full 360-degree marketing campaign across neimanmarcus.com, the Neiman Marcus app and the retailer's social media channels. Also, the retailer’s “style advisors” can interact with their customers through its proprietary remote selling platform, Connect.

Evoking the spirit and colors of the South of France, the collection features a summery palette of soft yellows, blues and whites with the house's signature gold details. For this exclusive offering, Balmain surveyed its archives to reintroduce a baroque print by the Maison's founder, Pierre Balmain. The elegant motif is translated onto pieces in the collection.

"My team and I wanted to keep this special limited-edition collection chic, light and easy for upcoming summer days and evenings," said Olivier Rousteing, Balmain creative director. "But, of course, we wanted to ensure that the connection to the house's incredible design history remained evident for those in the know. So, we started out by riffing on some singular archival references, including Monsieur Balmain's beloved Baroque flourishes and the signature Labyrinth motif. Then we mixed in some of the strongest themes that we've sent down our most recent runways, such as an array of eye-catching bright pastels and some unexpected twists on camouflage patterns. And we've ended up with an offering that definitely channels the distinctive modern spirit of today's Balmain."

 Neiman Marcus operates 36 stores across the U.S.