Louis Vuitton Opens Resort Store and Italy’s First Café in Taormina
MEDITERRANEAN BLUE: As the blueprint for the modern fashion concept store has evolved to include not just merchandise but also food, entertainment, technology and more, Louis Vuitton is opening a café-flanked resort boutique in the tony seaside destination of Taormina on Sicily.
Dubbed Louis Vuitton Café by Timeo, it marks the first such initiative in Italy of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton’s flagship brand. It is located on the first floor of the new resort-leaning store and is operated in tandem with the Belmond-owned Grand Hotel Timeo on central Corso Umberto.
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The café boasts all-day service, spanning breakfast, lunch and aperitivo, with a dedicated menu overseen by chef Roberto Toro that offers signature Sicilian delicacies, such as arancini (fried stuffed rice balls), and drinks, including the “Taormina Spritz.” Belmond is also owned by LVMH.
Enhancing both the resort and local vibes, the space is furnished with Fernando and Humberto Campana’s Bulbo armchair and features ceramic tiles arranged in white and blue graphic patterns as well as gradient blue tabletops. It has a dedicated entrance and a vista overlooking the sea.
The Taormina store marks one of the many resort boutiques the brand has opened this summer in the Hamptons; Saint Tropez, France; Bodrum, Turkey, and Mykonos, Greece spotlighting its LV by The Pool collection.
Decked in bleached and natural oak and replete with vintage furniture and design objects, glass shelves hanging from ropes, raffia wallpaper and majolica-style carpeting in nods to the Sicilian location, the Taormina store offers ready-to-wear, bags, footwear and accessories from the LV by the Pool collection, as well as a special edition of the signature Neverfull tote bag.
Items in the collection are swathed in white and blue shades, with the brand’s monogram reinvented in multiple ways, including for watercolor effects and graphic arrangements. The store also carries the Objets Nomades home décor and furniture collection as well as the boxed set of Summer Resort City Guides and the latest coffee table book, titled “Italian Rivieras” by Slim Aarons, part of the brand’s Fashion Eye book range.
Vuitton’s latest opening is in sync with the number of pop-ups, ephemeral boutiques and seasonal outposts that luxury brands have opened this summer. Most recently, Etro debuted a new store in Monte Carlo, as reported.
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