Louis Vuitton builds on its pop-up culinary concept with a luxury restaurant activation at the Seoul Maison.

Key features

Louis Vuitton’s partnership with London Michelin-starred Korean restaurant Ikoyi and chef Jeremy Chan for its Seoul Maison marks the third in a series of culinary pop-ups at its global retail locations. The interior combines Louis Vuitton’s iconic visual language with Ikoyi’s contemporary aesthetics. Wooden panels wrap the temporary hospitality space within the Frank Gehry-designed flagship. The wall-to-ceiling timber cladding encompasses a group of marble-topped dining tables and chairs upholstered in bright orange fabric. On display are a selection of the brand’s Objets Nomades, shown for the first time at Milan Design Week 2023 in April. Among them is Quetzal, an Atelier Oï-designed mobile that nods to the vibrant plumage of its namesake bird. 

FRAME’s take

It’s no secret that restaurants are settling into their role as fashion-retail darlings, with major luxury players bringing F&B in-store to ramp up their offer. Hospitality has long had a place in commercial settings but experiential design is bringing things to a whole new level: Breakfast at Tiffany’s experience at the jewellery brand’s newly renovated Fifth Avenue flagship is a shining example. Back in 2021, we wrote on Louis Vuitton’s reopened Ginza Namiki store in Tokyo, an opening that put two of the brand’s gastronomic ventures in the spotlight. The Ikoyi pop-up in Seoul is a relevant reference point in Louis Vuitton’s hospitality strategy as it demonstrates the variety in modes, markets – and creative collaborations – that the brand is testing. Temporary spaces offer a valuable platform for trial-and-error – especially worthwhile as the label works toward the opening of its first hotel on famed Paris shopping street Champs Elysées. This may be just the beginning.