Louis Vuitton Visionary Journeys Seoul: A Cultural Odyssey in Motion

Louis Vuitton has long mastered the art of transforming heritage into experience, but with Visionary Journeys Seoul, the Maison elevates that ambition into a full cultural odyssey. Installed within LV The Place Seoul at Shinsegae The Reserve, the exhibition unfolds across three floors as an immersive narrative conceived with architect Shohei Shigematsu of OMA. Rather than a retrospective, it is a living voyage—one that traces the House’s evolution from a visionary trunkmaker to a global arbiter of culture, craftsmanship, and innovation.

The journey begins in the Trunkscape room, a tunnel lined with the iconic Boîte Chapeau that immediately situates visitors inside Louis Vuitton’s foundational universe: the Art of Travel. The installation acts as a threshold, a cinematic overture that leads into the ground‑floor store. A spiraling staircase wrapped in a dynamic LED display then pulls visitors upward, its shifting imagery forming a luminous timeline of craftsmanship. The ascent feels like entering the Maison’s creative bloodstream, where history and movement merge.

On the fifth floor, the narrative expands into the Origins room, a suite of six chapters that chart the House’s defining moments. The evolution of Vuitton’s patterns culminates in the 1896 Monogram, a symbol that has become both cultural code and artistic medium. The intimate relationship between couture and travel emerges through wardrobes and vanity cases engineered for elegance in motion. Early trunks designed for trains, steamships, and automobiles evoke a world accelerating into modernity, while expedition trunks recall journeys to remote landscapes where craftsmanship was tested against the elements. The Maison’s pioneering materials—from lightweight Gris Trianon canvas to the supple coated textiles that revolutionized travel—appear alongside the rise of Epi leather and the birth of icons such as the Alma, Speedy, and Keepall. Together, these chapters form a tableau of invention, each object a response to the call of voyage.

A series of Lifestyle rooms extends the narrative into the rituals of living. The Watches room celebrates the precision of time and the poetry of form. The Picnic room revisits the elegance of open‑air leisure through portable trunks and refined tableware. The Personalisation room, constructed from a mosaic of personalized trunk faces, pays homage to a tradition that has defined Louis Vuitton since its earliest days: the transformation of every creation into a singular emblem of identity.

A space inspired by the ironwork of the Asnières workshops draws visitors into the Workshop room, where materials become protagonists. Supple leathers, polished brass, coated canvases, wooden moulds, and archival tools are displayed with the reverence of artifacts. The adjoining Testing room honors “Louise,” the machine that stress‑tests Vuitton creations, its quiet choreography underscoring the Maison’s belief that craftsmanship is both artistry and engineering.

The Icons room presents a kaleidoscopic field of column‑like vitrines showcasing the evolution of Louis Vuitton’s most recognizable forms. The Speedy, Alma, Noé, Keepall, and Petite Malle appear as milestones shaped by the visions of Nicolas Ghesquière, Pharrell Williams, Marc Jacobs, Kim Jones, and Virgil Abloh. The Monogram room continues this dialogue between heritage and reinvention, offering a playful array of silhouettes—from Teddy Bear to Nautilus bag—cut from a floor‑to‑ceiling Monogram wall. The effect is both whimsical and reverent, a reminder that the Monogram remains one of fashion’s most adaptable cultural symbols.

Descending to the fourth floor, visitors encounter an atrium where monumental trunk columns crafted from Monogram hanji paper glow like suspended lanterns. The Music room deepens the Maison’s dialogue with contemporary culture, presenting custom instrument cases, DJ boxes, portable speakers, and even an iPod cover inside an anechoic‑like chamber. Here, sound becomes a metaphor for Louis Vuitton’s rhythm of innovation.

The final sequence unfolds in the Collaboration and Fashion rooms, two adjoining spaces animated by ever‑changing backdrops. Bags rotate on a carousel as their canvases are projected across mirrored walls, creating a fully immersive environment that celebrates the Maison’s collaborations with artists and designers. The Fashion room employs a split‑flap display reminiscent of train stations to explore the evolution of Louis Vuitton’s runway shows. Korean connections appear throughout, from the Artycapucines designed with Park Seo‑Bo to Look 1 from the Women’s Prefall 2023 show staged on Seoul’s Jamsugyo Bridge.

Louis Vuitton Visionary Journeys Seoul positions the city not merely as a retail destination but as a global stage for the Maison’s most ambitious storytelling. It is a cultural escapade, a design laboratory, and a meditation on the enduring power of craftsmanship—an experience that transforms the act of visiting into a journey of its own.

Opening Hours Mon–Thu: 10:30–20:00 Fri–Sun & Public Holidays: 10:30–20:30

Address LV The Place Seoul, Shinsegae The Reserve 63 Sogong‑ro, Jung‑gu, Seoul

Reservations Louis Vuitton Visionary Journey Seoul | Louis Vuitton