Louis Vuitton unveils new super-sized ship-shaped Shanghai store

China – Louis Vuitton has opened The Louis, a striking flagship store in central Shanghai which includes a two-floor exhibition and rooftop café. The in-house design team describes the boat-shaped building as a nod to Shanghai’s rich port heritage and how it embodies the city’s historic role as the gateway to the East. 

The initiative comes as parent company LVMH seeks to reinvigorate China’s slowing luxury goods market – valued at around £35.7bn ($48.8bn, €41.4bn) after declining more than 18% in 2024 with sales projected to remain flat in 2025 – by blending cultural relevance with visual spectacle (source: Bain & Co). 

Visitors can enter the exhibition via the door at the head of the ship to step into a visually immersive archway. From there, they move through a sequence of themed rooms, each highlighting Louis Vuitton’s signature trunks as the foundation of the brand. These spaces include a library, a workshop, a space displaying trophy cases and a gallery dedicated to the brand’s fashion and fragrance lines. The experience concludes with a gift shop. 

On the third floor, Le Café Louis Vuitton features elements referencing the company's luggage legacy and warm wooden textures reminiscent of vintage cruise ships. 

This strategic move not only ‘flooded local social media feeds and become one of the city’s most talked-about attractions’ according to Jing Daily but also shifted the focus from traditional retail to experience–led marketing by inviting consumers to engage with the brand beyond just its products.  

In Culture-coded Retail, we previously highlighted similar retail experiences energised by cultural relevance and designed for community.