Step into the new Louis Vuitton Townhouse
This morning, Louis Vuitton unveiled its new 'Townhouse' in Selfridges, a three-storey emporium of womens- and menswear, watches and leather goods housed at the very front of the department store. I haven't started the day in so glamorous a destination since, well, the Louis Vuitton show in Paris last month.
The interior is as serene as you might expect, all beige and pale wood, with specially commissioned artworks littering the place. On the third floor – 'the women's universe', as the voice in the lift would have it (more of that later) – artist Barnaby Barford has created several bespoke ceramic pieces made from tiny flowers and butterflies, some stamped with that famous monogram from the house's most well-known print – the largest of which contains around 2,500 individual pieces.
But back to the lift: created by architect Gwenaël Nicolas, it's a circular tubi affair, surrounded by a spiralling helix of lights in which Vuitton bags are proudly framed, and the capsule that swishes up and down inside revolves as it carries you upwards. It's a strange sensation, a bit like being a on the world's most glamorous theme park ride. The label calls this 'retail theatre', which fairly sums up the feel at this house: at once stately but also just a real laugh.
That's the sort of character that out-going creative director Marc Jacobs has created for this super-label, and it's a winning formula borne out by infinitessimmal attention to detail along with traditional craftsmanship and an artisan heritage, as well as a poppy engagement with the arts and youth culture. It's one of the most idiosyncratic expressions of 'luxury', and all that word entails, around.
With the news earlier this week of Nicolas Ghesquiere's appointment as Jacobs's successor, the mood at the label will almost certainly change but the values and spirit will remain the same. Ghesquiere is another designer who has managed that intense balance of artistic credibility with an affectionate and intelligent take on mainstream culture. As it stands, the newly opened Townhouse feels like a perfect blend of elegance and enthusiasm – and those are precisely the elements that underpin this label with such success.
