Louis Vuitton opens new Milan store with Yayoi Kusama installations

Louis Vuitton opened a new store on January 6, 2023 in Milan's former Garage Traversi (built 1939, designed by Giuseppe De Min) on Via Bagutta near Piazza San Babila. The three-level space preserves the original architectural structure with curved walls and exposed concrete fan beams. The ground and second floors are for retail (women's and men's fashion with vintage furniture), while the second floor hosts the immersive exhibition "Creating Infinity: i mondi di Yayoi Kusama e Louis Vuitton" featuring the new collaboration collection. The store opening coincides with the renewal of the historic Palazzo Taverna location (where Vuitton will return in two years) and the launch of a new collection co-created with Yayoi Kusama, marking their second collaboration after ten years. The collection features "Infinity Dots" and "Metal Balls" patterns using innovative screen printing to replicate Kusama's brushstrokes in 3D, with hand-applied metal half-spheres. Global initiatives include a 3D advertising campaign on a mega-screen in Tokyo and a robot version of Kusama painting in the Fifth Avenue New York window. In Milan, three large Kusama pumpkin sculptures will be installed at Piazza San Babila on January 13, and a flower shop decorated with Kusama dots stands across the street. A QR code on the brand's website offers Instagram filters inspired by Kusama's themes.