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Reporting and photos: Lieba Nesis
Louis Vuitton exceeded all expectations with the opening of its 5-floor store, the largest outpost in America, on 6 East 57th street from 7-10 PM on Thursday November 14th 2024. It’s hard to comprehend this masterpiece on billionaire’s row near 5th avenue is only a temporary pop-up for no more than 3 years while the real deal across the street gets renovated for a permanent flagship.
When Vuitton announced in early 2024 it was demolishing and rebuilding its 20-story glass sheathed building on the corner of Fifth and 57th the fashion world gasped-what would Upper East siders do without a Vuitton at its fingertips? Remember when pop-ups were more akin to tentlike structures with dubious durability and bargain basement renovations. Is Bernard Arnault, owner of conglomerate LVMH with a net worth of $157 billion, raking in so much money from the brand that even a makeshift edifice is worthy of 36,000 square feet and tens of millions of dollars.
A museumlike shrine to Louis Vuitton (LV), the store contains pictures of various LV stores strewn throughout along with coveted bags in each elevator lobby including ones made with artists Richard Prince (2008), Yayoi Kusama (2003), Takashi Murakami (2003), Stephen Sprouse (2001), and Supreme (2017). The space which formerly housed another Arnault pop-up of Tiffany’s and before that of Niketown contains leather goods on the first floor; and women’s and menswear on the second and third. The fourth floor houses the first chocolate shop and cafe in the United States while the fifth contains private retail lounge spaces and the homeware collections.
If you want a reservation at the library-themed cafe which houses over 650 Ian Luna curated books and is helmed by renowned chefs Christophe Ballanca and Mary George a two month wait might be worth artful dishes such as truffle ravioli, damier tartlets and croque sandwiches- all playfully embedded with the Vuitton logo inside. I sampled the mouthwatering truffles while Vuitton’s artfully designed $375 chocolate Vivienne mascot was a bit too pricey for my candy budget.
This store is the single greatest commercial for Vuitton as nearly every inch reminds you of the label-including the atrium entrance which houses 90 towering Courrier Lozine trunk sculptures in four vertiginous stacks developed with international architect Shohei Shigematsu. CEO Pietro Beccari whose famous refrain is “don’t think big think huge” said he was optimistic as the brand always does “good business post-election”. Hopeful that Donald Trump’s promise of a “golden era” would translate into its revenues in the US, Beccari said America was a pivotal cog in the Vuitton machine since 1898 when it first entered the US market. More than a century later Vuitton boasts 105 stores in the US of which 77 are freestanding.
This store is double the flagship on 5th avenue and will allow Very Important Clients now referred to as “VIC’s” by CEO Beccari to get whatever they want whenever they want-something that was an impossibility at the former store. There is even a secret fifth floor room for Vuitton’s high jewelry and haute horlogerie collections. The permanent flagship with Vuitton’s offices is currently being reimagined by renowned architect Peter Marino who oversaw the 2014 renovation and arrived this evening with a team of ten who were there to observe and mingle.
Other luminaries gracing the evening included the inimitable actor Bradley Cooper, Ana de Armas, Jennifer Connelly, Cynthia Erivo, Martha Stewart and hundreds of other models, influencers and clients. There were lite bites, drinks and dozens of photographers and movie cameras ready to film the highly anticipated evening.
Despite the evening’s exorbitant cost I was surprised there was no scheduled entertainer aside from a couple of lesser known DJ’s. As hundreds came streaming through there were no pivotal moments such as a speaker detailing the highlights of the store or a singer wowing the masses. Furthermore Creative Directors Nicolas Ghesquiere (women’s) and Pharrell Williams (men’s) along with the Arnault’s seemed to be missing in action-did they skip out on this momentous night? In October shares of LVMH dropped as it reported three percent weaker sales in the last quarter due to a drop in Chinese shoppers.
As a bellweather for the luxury industry LVMH’s decline sent shudders throughout the high-end sector. Despite setbacks, openings like these indicate big players are spending big money in the “Big Apple.”
