© 2009 AFP - Printemps, one of Paris' biggest department stores, is opening a Maria Luisa concept store as it places its bets on high-end fashion despite the financial crisis, CEO Paolo de Cesare said Tuesday.

Paolo de Cesare, CEO of Printemps, Maria Luisa, Fashion editor of Printemps, and Maurizio Borletti, president of Rinascente and sharer of Printemps

Due to open next September, the multi-brand store will be located within Printemps' new and also about-to-open three-storey luxury department.

The move, de Cesare told reporters, came as the store repositioned to become "a symbol of luxury, fashion and beauty".

"We want to make our fashion approach unique," he said.

Asked whether the time was right to bank on luxury, he said: "A crisis is the right moment to change your image, there's less activity, you have more visibility...We will be one of the few big projects."

Store owner Maria Luisa Poumaillou, who also becomes Printemps' fashion editor, is a well-known figure on the Parisian style scene.

She opened her first boutique two decades ago featuring a host of designers who came to influence fashion over the following years -- John Galliano, Vivienne Westwood, Anne Demeuleester, Issy Miyake or Helmut Lang.PARIS, Jan 27, 2009 (AFP)