Louis Vuitton begins renovations on its future Champs-Elysées site, where it will show in October

LVMH‘s plans for its Champs-Elysées site are taking shape. Louis Vuitton is taking over the huge building at number 103, which stretches to number 111 on the world’s most beautiful avenue, and has begun extensive renovation work, as FashionNetwork.com had anticipated in April. This former palace, formerly the headquarters of HSBC France bank, “will eventually be the brand’s new showcase for a new project on the must-visit Parisian thoroughfare”, says the label in a brief note, confirming the rumors of recent months.

The company is not revealing any details about the scope of the project, or how long the works will last. All it says is that on October 2, “to celebrate this new chapter in its history”, the site will host its women’s spring-summer 2024 ready-to-wear show, designed by its women’s artistic director Nicolas Ghesquière, at the forthcoming Paris Fashion Week.

He added that for the duration of the works, “the façade will be adorned with a Monogram metal mesh made of wood and aluminium,” directly inspired by the label’s trunks “once used by explorers”.

This historic Art Nouveau-style building of almost 25,000 square metres was originally earmarked to house Dior‘s headquarters. But since the brand’s former CEO, Pietro Beccari, took the helm at Louis Vuitton in January, it is now intended for different projects. It will house the new flagship shop for the trunk-maker, and very probably a hotel too. The man behind the successful restructuring of Dior’s historic location at 30 avenue Montaigne, the Italian manager most definitely has a few surprises in store for this new monster of a site.

It is amusing to recall that this mythical building was originally a hotel called the Elysée Palace. It was built in 1898 for the Compagnie des Wagons-Lits. It is located just opposite number 101 on the Champs-Elysées, which houses Louis Vuitton’s flagship shop, in a building that is also historic and has recently been acquired by LVMH. The building is due to be used in the near future by Dior, the group’s other flagship store.