In the heart of Shanghai’s business district, something surreal now floats between past and future: The Louis, Louis Vuitton’s new multi-sensory flagship shaped like a ship, docked in the city centre. Built as a contemporary echo of transoceanic travel, this vast metallic vessel fuses retail, culture, and cuisine in an immersive celebration of layered Louis Vuitton’s world.

Inspired by the House’s 19th-century maritime roots and Shanghai’s history as a gateway port, the structure’s silhouette references both luxury trunks and steamships. Inside, the space flows between a café, an exhibition, and a boutique.

At Le Café Louis Vuitton, Chefs Leonardo Zambrino and Zoe Zhou blend French savoir-faire with Shanghai flavours – think monogrammed jiaozi and Yuja-laced Caesar salads – while Visionary Journeys, the in-house exhibition dives deep into the house’s heritage, through archival trunks, bespoke scents, literary artefacts, and contemporary icons, mapping Louis Vuitton’s evolution from trunk-maker to cultural omnipresence. Elsewhere, a rare collection of writings, sketches, and travel lectures by Gaston-Louis Vuitton is displayed alongside a copy of Ernest Hemingway’s A Moveable Feast as a nod to the legendary writer’s custom Louis Vuitton Library Trunk and the book’s opening tale of a lost manuscript rediscovered inside one.

The Louis opens on 28th June, located at HKRI Taikoo Hui, No. 789 West Nanjing Road, Shanghai.