Reflecting its widening lifestyle and cultural scope, Louis Vuitton plans to open a multifaceted, mega-flagship location — housing a permanent exhibition space and multiple eateries — in the heart of Beverly Hills City in 2029, WWD has learned.
Vuitton said construction would commence in 2026 on a vast site spanning Rodeo Drive and Beverly Drive in Los Angeles.
Architect Frank Gehry — whose projects with Vuitton span everything from his landmark building for the Fondation Louis Vuitton on the outskirts of Paris to perfume bottles with striking Murano glass stoppers — has been enlisted for the building, while architect Peter Marino, mastermind of many luxury mega projects for Vuitton, is to supervise the interior.
A rendering shows a pleated facade of torqued columns topped by a leafy garden, bringing to mind a cluster of wonky white vases.
Vuitton described the vast flagship as a single building comprised of two structures connected across an alley by two pedestrian bridges.
This confirms a report in WWD on Feb. 8, 2024, that Vuitton was seeking to develop a prime site owned by parent LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton and previously earmarked for a 109-room Cheval Blanc luxury hotel.
In May 2023, LVMH conceded defeat in its quest to build a Cheval Blanc after a special election ended with a slim majority of nearby homeowners opposing the project. Developing the site required approval from residents, the planning commission and the Beverly Hills City Council.
At present, Vuitton operates three locations in Los Angeles: in Beverly Center, at Beverly Hills Saks, and on Rodeo Drive.
The Rodeo Drive entrance of the forthcoming Vuitton mega flagship will give way to a three-level retail space spanning 45,000 square feet, displaying women’s and men’s collections, beauty products and fragrances, watches and jewelry, and travel-related merchandise.
In addition, there will be one level of “private spaces for clients” and a garden rooftop, Vuitton said.
A second entrance on Beverly Drive alights onto a vast hospitality space spread across 55,000 square feet.
Two levels will be dedicated to an exhibition space, Vuitton’s first such permanent space in the U.S., reinforcing its stated ambition of being a “cultural brand.” (The Fondation Louis Vuitton, which opened in 2014, has become a top Paris attraction for art fans with blockbuster exhibitions devoted to the likes of Mark Rothko, Jean-Michel Basquiat and Olafur Eliasson.)
Another level will house the exhibition lobby and a café, while an additional level will be dedicated to a restaurant and an open-air terrace.
“The new location will take visitors into a full Louis Vuitton lifestyle experience showcasing its diverse universes of products and one-of-a-kind client experiences,” Vuitton said.
In recent years Vuitton has vastly expanded its hospitality concepts across the world with more than 20 restaurants, cafés, chocolate shops and airport lounges.
Now led by chairman and chief executive officer Pietro Beccari, Vuitton seems intent on building increasingly bigger and more spectacular retail attractions.
In Paris, the company is currently renovating a mammoth Art Nouveau-style building on the Avenue des Champs-Élysées, currently encased in hoarding resembling a giant silver trunk.
While precise plans for the building still under wraps, a construction permit registered with the city of Paris mentions retail, hotel accommodation and the construction of a basement level and interior courtyard.
Last November, Beccari unveiled a temporary store in New York City that is double the size of its historic Fifth Avenue flagship at the corner of 57th Street, which is undergoing an extensive renovation that should take roughly three years.
Louis Vuitton 57th Street NYC boasts a restaurant and bar, a fine chocolate shop, a trio of VIP suites, a collectible capsule collection, and four five-story stacks of trunks in the atrium to rival the Manhattan skyline.
And just last month, Vuitton opened a new Milan flagship on Via Montenapoleone which debuted a comprehensive new Louis Vuitton Home collection. The 50,000-square-foot unit also houses a restaurant and a café, both in partnership with Da Vittorio.
