For the very first time in Bangkok, a Louis Vuitton pop-up store has landed in front of their shop in Siam Paragon’s Hall of Fame. Although shaped like a sleek cave filled with a selection of pieces from the menswear spring/summer 2016 collection, the blue, tunnel-like aesthetic is actually modelled to look like a large, silk blanket draping over the store — blankets being something LV men’s artistic director Kim Jones is known to pioneer. To date, the scale of this pop-up is by far one of the largest to have ever opened in Southeast Asia and will be leaving our posh retail artery after Sunday.
The Louis Vuitton pop-up store.
This menswear pop-up may be a first for the brand in this region, but there have been highly-buzzed pop-up stores in fashion capitals around the world before. In 2012, the Louis Vuitton and Yayoi Kusuma affair was one that opened worldwide in Tokyo, New York, Hong Kong, Paris, London and closer to home, in Singapore. Usually, the hot spots that played home to LV’s showcases don’t stray far from big names like Colette in Paris, Selfridges in London and Dover Street Market in Tokyo. Now, Siam Paragon joins the club. With the spotlight currently in the East, this season is definitely one for Asean men, as Louis Vuitton’s menswear collection draws its inspirations from Southeast Asia — namely Thailand, Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia. To mark this occasion, Jones has also designed a limited edition of the souvenir jacket especially for Thailand, which features a large, black leopard on the back. Only five pieces are available and as of now, only one (really huge) piece is left up for grabs.
This is the most iconic piece of the season, but if you don’t see the possibility of being one of the lucky five, the same satin souvenir jacket also comes with an embroidered crane. Another key piece that looks like a burgeoning trend for this summer seems to be the bandana with a large cursive Louis Vuitton print — worn knotted at the back to showcase the name across your neck. Most fittingly, a large chunk of the collection features satin and silk to beat the summer heat, with lots of textiles details nicked from traditional communities and local hill tribes. For the full details about the inspirations and influences which lead to the collection, read our full interview with Jones tomorrow.
This source first appeared on Bangkok Post Lifestyle.