Louis Vuitton has unveiled an ambitious new cultural and retail destination in Shanghai’s Wujiang Road, part of the heaving Nanjing West Road business district. ‘The Louis’ inhabits a colossal, cruise ship-like structure, nearly 100ft tall, that pays tribute to the maison’s history as a malletier (trunk maker) and Shanghai’s port history as the ‘Gateway to the East’. Its prow and hull sport a sleek metallic Monogram embellishment, while the deck and stacked upper levels evoke the elegant shape of 19th-century transoceanic travel trunks.
