HOUSE OF DELIGHTS
Louis Vuitton has just thrown open the doors of its spectacular new Paris flagship store on Place Vendôme. Melissa Twigg discovers how the boutique draws together the brand’s illustrious legacy and contemporary artistry
Place Vendôme should have been renamed the Square of Dreams. Home to the finest boutiques and hotels in the world, it has been at the heart of French power, nobility and fashion for centuries. And on this famous place, a mere stone’s throw from the Louvre and the Tuileries Garden, you will find Louis Vuitton’s new Parisian flagship store.
Maison Louis Vuitton Place Vendôme, which opened its doors in early October, takes the illustrious brand back to its roots, as it is just moments away from the bustling street where Louis Vuitton himself started working in the French capital in the 19th century. It was in 1854 on Rue Neuve des Capucines—“near Rue de la Paix and Place Vendôme,” as it is described on his first business card—that the great designer launched his brand.
If only he could see what heights it has reached in the 150 years since. The new store is in many ways the perfect encapsulation of his brand’s extraordinary success. Housed in two hôtels particuliers (grand Parisian mansions), its parquet-floored rooms have been home to princesses, aristocrats and politicians over the past few hundred years. The two houses, once known as Hôtel Beaudet de Morlet and Hôtel Heuzé de Vologer, were built in 1714 and were designed by the same architect as the Palace of Versailles.
Today, the houses arguably stand in their most beautiful incarnation. The floors have been returned to their 18thcentury level and polished, the ceilings have risen to their original height and the facade has been carefully restored to ensure it fits beautifully with the rest of the exquisite square. The dedication to detail is testimony to Louis Vuitton’s revered relationship with design, artisans and beauty.
In some ways, Maison Louis Vuitton Place Vendôme will feel like a museum and gallery incorporated into a boutique. A curated selection of Objets Nomades, or travel-inspired pieces, will be available permanently in-store for the first time in France. The debut items include the Campana Brothers’ cocoon pod chair, Marcel Wanders’ Lune chair and his delicate leather latticework diamond screen, Tokujin Yoshioka’s Blossom stool inspired by the LV monogram, and India Mahdavi’s marquetry Talisman table. A new piece of work by Jeff Koons, who has had a long and intimate relationship with Louis Vuitton, is also being released at the flagship store.
However, it is the spectacular selection of haute joaillerie that really sets this location apart from the Louis Vuitton boutiques around the world. To celebrate the opening, the haute joaillerie workshop, which is based on the top floor, has created three specially designed, handmade highjewellery sets featuring Paraiba tourmalines and mandarin garnets. Inspired by the most recent Louis Vuitton haute joaillerie collection, Conquêtes, and made with Louis Vuitton’s signature monogram flower, the pieces are a perfect illustration of Louis Vuitton’s 150-year passion for remarkable craftsmanship and artistry.
The famous Louis Vuitton atelier at Asnières near Paris has chosen to celebrate the opening of the flagship store in its own creative way—with a new high-jewellery trunk that combines the special talents of Louis Vuitton and the history of Place Vendôme, a centre of jewellery design for many decades. This metre-high model comes covered with Louis Vuitton’s classic monogram and features a bust on which to hang necklaces, as well as a selection of drawers and display cases for jewellery, a removable travel case, a mirror, and a soft lid.
So while Place Vendôme has been a place of dreams for centuries, it is now home to a boutique that is an ode to craftsmanship—and that aims to make all our sartorial fantasies come true.