Louis Vuitton’s new 17,000-square-foot development in Shanghai is, quite literally, the luxury brand’s Chinese flagship. The structure, which serves as a store, restaurant, museum and billboard, is shaped like a giant boat, its hull emblazoned with Louis Vuitton’s unmistakable monogram print. To some, it is also a metaphor for Louis Vuitton’s parent company, LVMH, which is floundering in China and beyond. Is it a superyacht headed for promising new waters, asks Flavio Cereda-Parin of GAM, an asset manager, or “Titanic 2.0”?
