About a year ago, I arrived at a Bel Air residence that was fully furnished and adorned with everything Louis Vuitton. I walked into the house and was greeted by a tower of Louis Vuitton trunks before gazing out at the palm trees peeking through the floor-to-ceiling windows. The installation, Crafting Dreams LA, was an immersive experience embodying the LV universe. This week it made its way to the East Coast, specifically a seven-floor Park Avenue townhouse built in 1926.
Upon entering the Upper East Side residence last week, I was greeted by Louis Vuitton furniture, two logo’d-out trunks, and a mannequin donned in a midnight blue evening gown with a sequin top half and silk bottom half (as well as a gorgeous marble floor and a gold spiral staircase). Around the corner was my favorite part of the experience: a Louis Vuitton café serving up lattes. And not just any lattes, but lattes with the LV logo in the froth served on Louis Vuitton’s stylish new tableware. (It was a very New York touch compared to the rooftop Champagne I had at the Bel Air residence.)
I entered a tiny elevator that took me up seven flights and walked out to a wall of Capucine bags in various pastel colors. Making my way downstairs, I saw Pharrell’s pieces like the Minecraft trunks and million-dollar Speedy. (The rare bold yellow bag, handmade with crocodile leather and complete with a gold Cuban link chain, is in the U.S. for the first time just for this event.) Some of the accessories in that room included a poker case with LV poker chips — do I know how to play? No, but I still want the case. In another room, there was a Louis Vuitton picnic basket filled with everything you’d ever need for a day in the park, including a matcha set with the brand’s logo.
The high jewelry collection was on another floor, including pieces with the LV-cut diamond monogram star, which looks like the brand’s logo, and jewelry made with unique and rare untreated gemstones. In the corner of the room were two historical dresses: the one Gemma Chan wore to the Academy Museum Gala in Los Angeles and another that Léa Seydoux wore to a Dune premiere in Paris.
One of my favorite trunks was one I saw last time, a party trunk packed with Ruinart Champagne, cocktail shakers, wine glasses, and an LV disco ball. This time, it sat next to the never-before-seen mosaic-mirrored Campana Disco Cocoon chair, which looked too fancy for me to try to sit in. The rooms in New York, though alike in some ways, were very different from their counterparts in California. The Upper East Side residence had a historical essence about it, like many long-standing residences in New York. Because of that, seeing the history of the LV pieces, down to the jewelry and watches, felt like storytelling through the Crafting Dreams experience, whereas Bel Air felt like luxury personified. Was this still luxurious? Obviously.
The townhouse is open to the brand’s top clientele through private appointments until May 5, and every single floor is worth the visit.
Asia Milia Ware , 2024-04-17 00:21:26
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