Published on
November 18, 2024
Gigantic installations, a café-library, a new culinary concept… In New York, Louis Vuitton is thinking big! To compensate for the closure of its New York flagship store, located in the heart of Manhattan, at the northeast corner of Fifth Avenue and 57th Street, engaged in a renovation which will take several years, the LVMH flagship house has designed an extraordinary and surprising temporary store, which was set up across the street, at 6 East 57th Street.
The brand’s new destination in New York – Louis Vuitton
Describing itself as a “cultural and gastronomic destination”, the gigantic space, inaugurated on Friday November 15, welcomes the entire world of Louis Vuitton on five levels. Upon entering, the visitor is struck by a monumental installation with four towers made up of the brand’s emblematic trunks, culminating at sixteen meters in height, like skyscrapers.
In one corner, a vertical wall 18 meters high, made from mirror bags stacked on top of each other, reflects the liveliness of the store, which is also decorated with large wall photos.
The place brings together the entire range of the brand’s offerings: from leather goods located on the ground floor to the women’s world on the first floor and the men’s world on the second floor.
The fourth floor includes the “Objets Nomades” and “Art de la Table” home collections, as well as a more exclusive section with three private lounges reserved for important clients and a secret loft-style room dedicated to fine watchmaking and to fine jewelry.
The gigantic sculptures that welcome visitors to the atrium – Louis Vuitton
On the occasion of this opening, Louis Vuitton is introducing its restaurant format for the first time in the United States, which it is enriching by devoting an entire level to it, namely the third floor.
It hosts the Café Louis Vuitton, redesigned as a “library café”. The place with walls covered with books is structured around a restaurant room, a 70-seat bar and a reading area, where you can leaf through art and travel books among 600 to 650 titles available, including, of course, publications from Editions Louis Vuitton.
The whole is completed by a corner “Le Chocolat Maxime Frédéric at Louis Vuitton”, the brand thus extending its chocolate offering to the American market.
The library café – Louis Vuitton
At the helm of the restaurant, French chefs Arnaud Donckele and Maxime Frédéric, already active in the Louis Vuitton establishment in Saint-Tropez, who are evolving the gastronomic concept of the luxury house with new proposals, while expanding the community culinary from the label to local chefs.
They surrounded themselves with young New York talents Christophe Bellanca and Mary George, who run Le Café Louis Vuitton. “By focusing on different ideas and local flavors, the team of each new café will bring its unique vision, while respecting the know-how and codes that define the DNA of Louis Vuitton,” specifies the company in a press release.
In what ways does the Café Louis Vuitton enhance the shopping experience compared to traditional luxury retail spaces?
1. What unique features does the new Louis Vuitton store in New York offer?
2. How does the restaurant format introduced by Louis Vuitton in the United States differ from their usual culinary offerings?
3. What role does the Café Louis Vuitton play in the new store’s design and concept?
4. How did the team of chefs approach the development of the new restaurant menu?
5. How did the local chefs contribute to the Louis Vuitton restaurant concept?
