Louis Vuitton Boutique (Paris, France)

Back in 1914, when it first opened, the Paris LV flagship was considered to be the biggest travel shop in the world. Few could afford to stop by and just order one of the prized trunks or steamer bags. LV was incredibly exclusive and very unique. These days the LV 'house' on Champs-Elysées is just as huge and officially the largest luxury boutique in the world. However it now sells mainly bags, jewelry, clothes, shoes, books, sunglasses, and other accessories. As LV was one of the first designer brands to target the middle-class and mass market with smaller, slightly more affordable items, the current clientele is also somewhat different, ranging from students to pop stars.

The imposing LV building could probably be considered one of Paris' major attractions with a steady stream of tourists wandering through the entrance every day - sometimes the security won't even bother closing the doors. In fact whenever I happen to pass, I actually see more people taking photos of its art-deco facade than the nearby Arc de Triomphe. At this point, I'm surprised visitors aren't offered an audio guide when entering the building.

For those who have always been intimidated by high-end stores, this one is different. The staff are very welcoming (there's even a reception desk at the entrance), you will see consumers walking around in jeans and sneakers and in general the ambiance will most likely resemble a high-end department store more than it would an exclusive luxury boutique, where most wouldn't dare to touch the items on display. While the store windows currently still feature the neon-lit Sprouse roses, the interior is what you would expect from LV: traditional trunks float above the so-called 'bag bar' and the much-loathed yet equally loved LV monogram can be found decorating various walls.

It is this 'bag bar' that tends to be the busiest area in the store with crowds of people at every counter perusing the most popular purse styles. And while I don't despise the LV canvas like some of my friends do (I do prefer it on luggage and trunks though), I can't help but wonder why so many people keep buying bags that are so frequently sighted. In Paris you can't swing your arm without hitting someone carrying something from the LV canvas line (I see an average of 10-20 a day) and back in the days when I lived in Hong Kong, both the real and fake bags were so ubiquitous, I one day spotted a homeless man using a replica monogram Speedy as a pillow.

But once I headed up the escalator to the top floor, I was reminded of LV's impressive heritage. When the Sprouse collection first came out, one corner had a full display of the bag range, as well as the tribute book for people to browse through and the DVD running on a loop. Currently this corner is once again home to the massive trunks and hard-cased luggage, some of them open allowing you to view the different compartments. A nearby display featured miniature renditions of previously custom-made trunks: one to store a bike, another revealed a full-sized bureau and a third contained a portable bed with mattress.

Before making my way to the adjoining room which houses even more luggage, I quickly browsed part of the women's ready-to-wear collection and shoes. Certain areas are partitioned off with the help of metal mesh walls (adorned with the logo of course), to highlight the Sprouse range or select pieces from the Summer 09 collection. This is also where you'll find scarves, belts and a small collection of costume jewelry.

One of the most impressive parts of the building is the atrium 'luggage lounge' with it's steel-domed ceiling. A nice selection of the men's Damier Graphite range (my personal favorite) along with other suitcases and Keepalls could be viewed here. And of course there were more trunks on display. Unfortunately I don't have 22 000 EUR to spare, otherwise I might just have picked one up...

The majority of the women's line can be found further down and around the corner of the top level. LV only started coming out with clothing a little over 10 years ago and you'll find everything from the current runway pieces (including that feathered thing Madonna has been wearing) to more casual sporty items. I would like to add that this area is usually very empty, so most people seem more interested in accessories than anything else.

The remaining storeys are laid out in a spiral shape so that you end up walking down the rest of the building without noticing. The high-end jewelry and watch section is next, though again you'll hardly find people browsing this department.

If you need something to read, the neighboring bookshop has a wide variety of art, fashion and LV-specific literature (including the LV travel guides).

The menswear section is slightly busier again, with many visitors checking out the various ties, scarves, suits, jackets and shirts. According to a friendly SA any of the sideboard drawers and cupboards can be opened to reveal even more styles not on display, so for the next 10 minutes I had lots of fun raiding this area.

To those who aren't huge fans of the brand I would say, give it a try because it's a great place to just browse and this boutique is part of fashion history. Those who adore anything LV will most likely have this on their must-see list anyway and I don't think they'll be disappointed.

(individual images: Louis Vuitton Website)

Address: 101 avenue des Champs-Elysées, 75008 Paris
Opening Hrs: Mon-Sat: 10:00-20:00, Sun: 11:00-19:00
Louis Vuitton Homepage and Online Shop