The Art of Selling

Sharon Stone donned a pointy black witch's hat, Pharrell Williams piled on the pave diamonds and Karl Lagerfeld slipped on a pair of silver gloves. The occasion was none other than the opening of Louis Vuitton's Paris's Champs-Elysees store. With a temple-like 1930s façade, seven floors and 1,900 square feet of selling space, the place is home to what looks like a lifetime supply of monograms and made-to-order trunks. "We want luxury to be cool," says Vuitton president, Yves Carcelle, "not something that is sad and untouchable."

To that end, customers can sit down at a "bag bar," inspired by the Vuitton store in Roppongi Hills, and shop for the latest denim Speedy, or even a miniature Murakami made especially for the store. Architects Eric Carlson and Peter Marino conceived the four-level space as a promenade through a series of descending mezzanines that were inspired by rice paddies in the mountains. A giant mesh screen encompasses the entire store and divides departments like the "men's world" and the "women's world."

A 20-m long "traveling staircase" with a fiber optic installation by American video artist Tim White-Sobieski connects the ground floor to the atrium where performance artist Vanessa Beecroft created a live installation on opening day.

Other artist collaborations include a James Turrell light sculpture, and a pitch-black "senseless" space elevator designed by the Danish conceptual artist Olafur Eliasson. There is even a library where true Vuitton fans can purchase a tome on the 150-year-old house. Now that is a successful marriage of art and commerce.