Jaguar’s global flagship Brand Store opens in Knightsbridge

Coinciding with the launch of the fully electric Type 01 four-door grand tourer, Jaguar has returned to the neighbourhood with its flagship. “There’s something about Knightsbridge that just has vibrancy to it that is irreplaceable and can’t be duplicated anywhere else in the city,” says Santino Pietrosanti, Director of Jaguar UK. “It brings such a global audience and so much trend and culture. I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else really,” he says.

The store is not your typical car dealership, in any sense. “As a flagship, step one is that it needs to be the physical manifesto of the brand – from the second you see it from the outside, and from the moment you walk in. This is a brand destination first,” Santino says. When you walk into the store, you’re greeted by what’s called the ‘Jaguarscape’. “This dual-aspect corner gives us the opportunity to create a really welcoming space, which will be living and breathing throughout the year.”

The window frontage running around the corner of the building will be used year-round for installations and activations, including a partnership with the Royal College of Art showcasing work by emerging artists. Last December, the Type 00 concept appeared in the very same window in a bespoke London Red for Jaguar’s 90th anniversary. You’ll see that accent red running throughout the store and furnishings.

The centrepiece of the Brand Store, and its most unexpected element, is Café Eighty-One (named after the store’s address on Knightsbridge). Developed with Michelin-starred chef Michael O’Hare, the menu reimagines British classics and hospitality in a very Jaguar way. Flavour-layered drinkable soups arrive in tall ceramic cups, and the brand’s novel take on a scone is well worth a try. You can book an exclusive afternoon tea with Champagne on arrival in advance, and the menu changes regularly.

Walk through Café Eighty-One and you catch a glimpse of a front bumper and gleaming 23-inch wheel as you approach; the full car only reveals itself as the space opens into a gallery. The store holds the Type 01 in Visionary Silver Satin, revealed simultaneously in New York and London. The New York car is not on public display, making Knightsbridge the only place in the world where you can see it. You won’t find any screens or visual clutter in this space. “You would not go to the National Portrait Gallery and have digital screens advertising in front of you,” Santino says.

Santino has spent six years working towards the launch of the Type 01, and he was part of the core team tasked with resetting the brand from the ground up. “When you unveil a labour of love – not just myself but thousands of people – it is really personal. I feel immensely proud to be part of the story, to be part of the fabric of the history of Jaguar.”

Café Eighty-One is now open seven days a week, and you can reserve afternoon tea through the store here.

Words by Jack Low. Images and video owned and supplied by Jaguar.