Loewe, the Spanish luxury brand owned by the LVMH group, has just opened its first store in Vienna. The announcement comes six months after the opening of a second Dior flagship store in the Austrian capital.
The bicentennial of Johann Strauss II, the prolific composer of Viennese waltzes including The Blue Danube, is clearly inspiring the world of luxury.
After Dior, it is now Loewe’s turn to make a splash in Vienna.
An immersive and cultural showcase
The opening of this first flagship store last week on the Kohlmarkt, one of Europe’s most prestigious shopping streets, allows the LVMH group’s fashion house to anticipate November 11, the official opening date of the ball season in the Austrian capital (with up to 500 social and dance events running until the end of February).
As befits a flagship store, the 350 square meter retail space showcases the entire range of the Spanish fashion house: women’s and men’s fashion and leather goods, as well as shoes, eyewear, jewelry, scarves, and shawls.
Part retail space, part art gallery, the new Loewe boutique seeks to blur spatial boundaries. More than just a store, Loewe’s first Viennese address is intended to be an immersive cultural showcase for luxury craftsmanship and design.
This is evident in the interior design and furnishings, which feature wool rugs by John Allen, lamps by Isamu Noguchi, Utrecht chairs by Gerrit Thomas Rietveld, furniture made from recycled leather from the House’s dormant stock, and undulating sculptures by South Korean artist Jaiik Lee, finalist for the LOEWE FOUNDATION Craft Prize 2023.
Like the group’s other flagship stores, the Loewe boutique in Vienna also features pictorial works including still lifes by Canadian artist Silas Borsos. The latter is exhibiting his works The Misunderstanding, Marmalade Muses, Green Orchestra and Sundial, which explore the fine line between abundance and decadence.
The works are displayed against a backdrop of handcrafted ceramic tiles in shades of brown, green, white, and silver, with materials including marble, brass, and concrete.
The Vienna boutique strengthens the brand’s European network, which includes nearby stores in Zurich and Geneva in Switzerland and six stores in Germany (two in Munich, Berlin, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt am Main, and Ingolstadt).
This new stage in the brand’s geographical expansion comes just a few months after openings in the United States in Palm Beach, Florida, and at the Short Hill Mall in New Jersey, as well as at the Westfield shopping center in Sydney.
Read also > Dior unveils its second address in Vienna
Featured image: © Loewe
