LV's luxe pit stop in New York

Being temporary in the world of luxury is still quite nice.

- 

A new store by Louis Vuitton is opening near a stretch of Manhattan known as Billionaires' Row. It is built to last for only a couple of years while the company renovates its flagship across the street.

Customers are greeted with a towering installation in the store's atrium, designed by Shohei Shigematsu, an architect at the Office for Metropolitan Architecture firm.

Four sculptural pillars of stacked LV trunks climb towards the roughly 15m ceiling, reminiscent of a game of Tetris.

"Stepping into a Louis Vuitton store is about embarking on a journey," LV chief executive Pietro Beccari said in an e-mail.

During his tenure, LV has aggressively continued to position itself as a cultural brand.

Mr Beccari featured tennis legends Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal hiking in Italy's Dolomites for an advertising campaign in 2024. In 2023, he appointed producer Pharrell Williams as LV's men's creative director.

The house has also expanded into the world of dining and hospitality.