Following news last year that Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy (LVMH) was planning to open a £500 million hotel in London’s Mayfair it has now also revealed plans to launch the first Louis Vuitton-branded restaurant, also located in Mayfair.
In collaboration with property developer O&H, LVMH will convert a Georgian building on Grafton Street, Mayfair into a hotel, restaurant and flagship Celine store.
LVMH has been in the process of mobilising an experience led strategy for their brands from exclusively retail to being more integrated with hospitality. The new hotel and restaurant will align with brand experience at their existing hotels including Bulgari Hotels and Cheval Blanc.
The new hotel project in Mayfair is set to be completed by 2022 and the project is valued currently at circa half a billion pounds.
The new LVMH cafe, to be named Le Café V, will see its first opening in the Japanese Louis Vuitton Maison Osaka Midosuji. Le Café V will present diners with a fusion in Japanese and French fine cuisine from chef Yosuke Suga. Positioned alongside the bar will be Sugalabo V, which will also serve dinner to guests in an open kitchen similarly to the Tokyo branch of Sugalabo.
The announcement of the openings follow LVMH’s CFO, Jean-Jacques Guiony stating: “I think the so-called experiential luxury is something that will be important in the future.” At the time, he was announcing LVMH’s acquisition of Belmond, operators of a portfolio of 46 hotel, restaurant, train and river cruise businesses.
LVMH has more developments planned to make sure it acquires a foothold in the luxury hospitality market. The hospitality outlets clearly provide LVMH with ample brand cross sell opportunities. The renovation of Dior’s flagship boutique on Avenue Montaigne, Paris will include a restaurant, and Tiffany has also opened its first cafe on New York’s fifth avenue.
London’s Mayfair is now clearly set now to see the roll out of even more ultra-luxury options for the super-rich, including hospitality as part of LVMH’s brand development strategy.