5 Things to Know About Louis Vuitton’s Resort Show Venue Outside Kyoto, Japan
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Nicolas Ghesquière loves to geek out over architecture. It’s a fact proven true by his track record of staging his Louis Vuitton Resort shows in places like the Niterói Contemporary Art Museum in Rio de Janeiro, conceived by Oscar Niemeyer, as he did last year. The designer has also invited editors, buyers, and celebrities to view his holiday-inspired wares at the John Lautner–designed former Bob Hope house in Palm Springs and once sat them on custom Pierre Paulin seats at the Place du Palais in Monaco. Today, Ghesquière continues to fuse his love for fashion and architecture with a Resort 2018 show at the Miho Museum just outside of Kyoto. As Ghesquière would do himself, it’s worth reading up on this entrancing marvel in the middle of a Japanese forest. Ahead of today’s show, here are five important facts to know about the I. M. Pei masterpiece so that you too can geek out about the architecture before the fashion takes your attention.
The Miho Museum was built by the architect I. M. Pei, who just celebrated his 100th birthday in April. One of Pei’s most famous works is the glass pyramid entrance to the Louvre in Paris. He is also known for being the architect for the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Massachusetts and the Bank of China Tower in Hong Kong.
When Pei first visited the land on which the museum would be built, he compared it to Shangri-La. It opened in 1997 (after he officially retired in 1990).
The museum is situated in the middle of a nature preserve in the Shiga Prefecture just outside of the city of Kyoto. It was built across 247 acres of land and nearly 80 percent of the museum is underground with wood, glass, and steel carved directly into the mountain on which it sits.
I. M. Pei was commissioned by wealthy Japanese heiress Mihoko Koyama. Her family started the Toyobo textile company more than 130 years ago. The museum houses her private collection of Western and Asian antiques, much of which she acquired in the short span of six years.
This is the first time a fashion show like LV’s will be held at the Miho Museum. The design lends itself well to a runway show and Ghesquière’s architectural aesthetic as a designer, with sloping hallways, curvaceous walls, and tunnels and triangular motifs throughout.
This story originally appeared on Vogue.
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