Offerings include a Versace quilted sleeveless minidress with a wide, scooped collar and sequin inset across the top, $2,085; a Lanvin leather satchel, $1,890, and a Givenchy sheer silk evening jacket top with three slender bow closures in front and on the wrists, $1,210, matched with lightweight wool flared pants, $695.

"Local expectations for Barneys are high,'' said Judy Collinson, women's merchandise manager.

The store features whimsical arrangements of mannequins — faces made of lamp shades — hanging sculpture and subtle, back-lit murals, including collages behind cosmetic counters using Japanese colored-paper cutouts.

The New York-based artist John-Paul Philippe, whose work appears in other Barneys, has wrapped an abstract decorative metal grillwork around the first-floor perimeter, which looks like a huge chunky necklace. The metal is also an element of the grand staircase connecting the main floor of fine jewelry, handbags and accessories to the mezzanine women's shoe department and cosmetics, known as The Foundation, on the lower level. A second staircase links all floors except cosmetics.

On the fourth level, the women's Co-op offers contemporary fashion, including Marc by Marc Jacobs, Theory, Helmut Lang and Alexander Wang. Men's wear is on the upper floors.

Socol declined to estimate sales revenue projections, however, overall apparel sales in the city have been robust.

"We have found in general, retailers are recording some the highest sales volumes, better than pre-9/11," said Kazuko Morgan, senior director of retail in San Francisco for commercial real estate firm Cushman Wakefield. Morgan said in the last year retail rents in the Union Square area have increased 10 percent. Prices per square foot range from $400 for a prime spot on the square to $170 a few blocks away.

Revenues at San Francisco specialty apparel stores grew 10 percent last year to almost $1.1 billion, according to the city controller's office.

"There are a lot of great retailers in a very short distance,'' Socol said. "But we think we can provide a different experience."