From Seoul’s Streets to Parisian Chic: Louis Vuitton Elevates Beauty at Galeries Lafayette

Louis Vuitton no longer focuses on stores, but on shopping destinations. In the midst of the luxury readjustment after the post-pandemic boom, the company has launched in parallel two projects that condense its retail roadmap. On the one hand, the group’s flagship brand has launched the hybrid concept LV The Place Seoul, in South Korea, and a new beauty space under the dome of Galeries Lafayette Haussmann, in Paris.

In Seoul, the new flagship store of more than 54,000 square feet is spread over several floors as a mix of museum, boutique and café. The tour begins with the Visionary Journeys exhibition, a journey through the history of the house, its archive of trunks and its evolution into fashion and accessories. Visitors pass through rooms dedicated to travel, materials and savoir faire before entering the shopping area, the café and the restaurant.

The Korean project functions as a brand hub in one of the most dynamic markets for luxury. South Korea has become a laboratory for young luxury, with a clientele that lives between K-pop and digital window dressing, and the space is designed to respond to the local consumer with staircases turned into makeshift catwalks, rooms set up for photographs and an experience that extends beyond pragmatic shopping.

Behind the staging is a very classic logic that the group already applies to other of its brands, such as Christian Dior in Paris. The exhibition acts as a gateway to a transversal store, offering leather goods, ready-to-wear, watches, jewelry and accessories. Reservations, guided tours and catering allow the brand to get to know its customers better and strengthen the direct relationship in a key market.

Louis Vuitton has launched its first major space dedicated to beauty, launched this year, at Galeries Lafayette

More than 6,000 miles away, Louis Vuitton has chosen one of the most coveted showcases in European retail for its bet on beauty. Galeries Lafayette Haussmann has just unveiled a 430 square feet corner dedicated to La Beauté Louis Vuitton, the maison’s makeup line.

The space, located on the first floor of the department store, is wrapped in an openwork metal structure with the brand’s diamond motif and combines wood, braided leather and champagne-colored metal. Inside, the three ranges of the collection are arranged: a total of 55 lipstick shades; ten balm references; and eight eyeshadow palettes. The point of sale also includes a personalized consultation area where customers can test textures and listen to recommendations.

La Beauté Louis Vuitton was born under the artistic direction of the reference of the makeup industry, Pat McGrath, and includes the olfactory signature developed by Jacques Cavallier Belletrud and refillable cases designed by Konstantin Grcic that dialogue with the historical codes of the house. The arrival at Galeries Lafayette, under a dome that attracts millions of visitors a year, reinforces the line’s positioning in the upper echelon of luxury makeup and places this new category at the heart of Parisian retail.

The deployment of the category is not limited to the French capital alone: in South Korea, Louis Vuitton has installed a fourteen week pop up at Dosan, one of the three spaces the brand reserves for special, ephemeral projects. The store, which picks up the baton from previous installations with Takashi Murakami or the premiere of Pharrell Williams’ menswear, functions as a living showcase of the universe of the British make-up artist, who has been signing the make-up for the brand’s fashion shows since 1998.

The new flagship store in Seoul has 54,000 square feet of exhibition space and a café

This deployment is led by Pietro Beccari, CEO of Louis Vuitton from 2023 and, as of January 1st, 2026, also Chairman and CEO of LVMH Fashion Group. His promotion to the helm of the fashion division of the holding, after a key stage at the helm of Christian Dior Couture, reinforces a strategy focused on emblematic spaces, new categories and high-impact experiences.

LVMH closed the first nine months of 2025 with revenues of €58.09 billion, down 4% year-on-year and down 2% organically, after posting a 1% increase in the third quarter driven by an improvement in Asia and the pull of Sephora. The fashion and leather goods division, which includes Louis Vuitton, reduced the decline to 2% organic in the quarter and reached €27.611 billion through September.