Or at least that's what we think Clipse might advise. Today, luxury French fashion house and rapper favorite Louis Vuitton opens the doors of its latest retail hub in Miami's thriving Design District. The store presents an austere gallery setting in which to vend its crafted wares. And to enhance the sophisticated museum atmosphere of the place, LV commissioned several blue-chip contemporary art pieces, including an installation by rising star and Miami native Teresita Fernández.
The building's luminescent cladding is an iteration of the architectural skins beloved by the brand, which have become as ubiquitous to its image as the classic patterns marked on its leather goods. This facade, conceived by Jun Aoki and Mirei Uchibe, recalls the classic LV damier motif in brise-soleil. During the day, sunlight filters inward through the external mesh, and at night, the store's artificial light seeps out to illuminate the streets.
A graceful floating staircase with nomade leather-swathed handrails spans the terrazzo floors. Limestone bricks adorn the showroom's vertical core. The robust architectural history of Miami Beach inspired the store's many interior fittings, featuring subtle details like metallic inlays and vintage wooden furniture.
Artist Teresita Fernández created a massive blue glass and mirror piece called Hothouse to hang on the mezzanine level. As an artist, Fernández specializes in making large-scale "landscape sculpture" that suggests natural phenomena transforming manmade places. Here, the 16,000 glistening cabochons evoke glacial cooling of the hot south Florida air. Other works throughout the boutique also feature naturalistic imagery done in both representational and abstract ways.
All in all, a pretty swanky place in which to spend those presidents, just in time for Jefferson's birthday. You can find the Louis Vuitton Miami Design District store at 140 NE 39th Street from today onward. Just be sure to wear your shades.
· Artist Teresita Fernández Transforms New York's Madison Square Park [WSJ. Magazine]
· All Design District posts [Curbed National]
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