Over the past 160 years, the French brand Louis Vuitton has expanded from luggage and leather goods, ready-to-wear and accessories to pop-up restaurants and interactive exhibitions. Now the brand is ready to open a luxury hotel.
President and CEO Michael Burke said the brand's Paris headquarters will soon be transformed into a giant complex with the world's first Louis Vuitton hotel and the largest LV boutique.
With a spectacular view that stretches from the Eiffel Tower to Notre Dame Cathedral, the Louis Vuitton building is located next to the Saint-Germain l'Auxerrois church. Burke says the neighborhood was once a "no-man's land" but has been radically transformed by Louis Vuitton's parent company, LVMH Moet Hennessy, over the past 18 months.
The world's largest luxury conglomerate opened a lavish new Cheval Blanc hotel, renovated La Samaritaine department store and unveiled a new Cova patisserie.
The dramatic transformation of the 40,000 square meter headquarters began this week with the launch of a new experiential space called LV Dream. Set to remain open for a year, the 2,000 square meter space features an exhibition of Louis Vuitton collaborations with artists, along with a gift shop, as well as a café and patisserie run by the head pastry chef at Cheval Blanc Paris. Burke says the event space will "most likely" be converted into the largest Louis Vuitton store, while a hotel is expected to open elsewhere in the building within the next five years.
Although Cheval Blanc is only a two-minute walk away, Burke is not worried about the future LV hotel encroaching on his territory: "It would be its own identity, its own segment and its own service – a completely different experience," he says.