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Fashion houses expanding into mediums beyond fashion is nothing new. (Who doesn’t have a home line these days?) But Louis Vuitton is venturing into a space that no luxury brand has gone before: an airport lounge.
You read that right. This May, above their store at Hamad International Airport in Doha, Qatar, the French fashion house opened the “Louis Vuitton Lounge by Yannick Alléno.” Helmed by the three-Michelin-starred French chef, the space caters to first or business class guests traveling Qatar Airways (or Louis Vuitton clientele) in a fantastical manner: at breakfast and brunch, there are Parisian viennoiseries and smoked fish platters with caviar. At lunch, there are tea sandwiches stamped with Vuitton’s famous fleur monogram. During dinner, travelers can dine on langoustine carpaccio with geranium essence, confit lamb shoulder flavored with yuzu, and pilaf rice with dried fruit and spices. (Or both: the lounge offers an a la carte and a tasting menu.) For those in desperate need of caffeine after a red-eye, meanwhile, there are cappuccinos with “LV” crafted into the foam. “The strength of the menu is, above all, that it is multicultural: it speaks as much to French as to locals, as well as to people of every nationality passing through,” Alleno tells Vogue of the concept.
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And that’s just the food: Vuitton’s aerial clubhouse is adorned with designer furniture including India Mahdavi low tables, Paolo Lenti high tables, and Costela armchairs by Martin Eisler. Many of the pieces also come from the house’s Objets Nomades collection, such as the Cosmic Table by Raw Edges and Bell Lamps by Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby.
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The entrance, on the other hand, is meant to evoke a lush jungle, with an abundance of greenery and Quetzal bird mobiles hanging overhead. And, in a nod to the likely purpose of the people stopping through, flanking the doors are stacks of Louis Vuitton trunks. “I wanted to create a place that would be open at all hours of the day or night to make any traveler feel welcome, whenever they happen to pass through,” says Yelleno. “That was a real challenge. It meant reconsidering what sustenance means in that context to propose a modern definition of it. My own version of Lost in Translation.”
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It’s been quite some time since airports, let alone airport lounges, have been considered “glamorous” spaces. (At this point, most are considered the polar opposite.) But if any could fall into that category, it would be Hamad International: according to Skytrax, it’s the second-best airport in the world, and the very best for shopping. Every year, 30 million people walk through its terminals, where they might pass “Lamp Bear,” a giant teddy bear statue by Swiss artist Urs Fischer. It also serves as the hub for Qatar Airways, which is 2022, was ranked as (you guessed it) the best in the world too. So perhaps it’s no surprise that this is where Vuitton set up its new experimental venture—it’s as luxurious a layover as one can get. Maybe there’s some hope left for the art of travel after all.
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