Louis Vuitton has opened a restaurant and cafe inside its new store in Osaka, Japan, with interiors fashioned by the brand’s in-house design team.
Sugalabo V is the first restaurant that Louis Vuitton has created within one of its stores. It occupies the top floor of the brand’s recently-opened branch on Midosuji – a bustling boulevard in central Osaka that’s lined with luxury fashion boutiques.
The restaurant is headed up by Japanese chef Yosuke Suga, who gained acclaim back in 2015 when he opened intimate Tokyo eatery Sugalabo.
Sugalabo V has a similarly private atmosphere. Accessed via a hidden, “speakeasy-style” door, the restaurant comprises a couple of chocolate-brown dining rooms where only small groups of people are permitted to eat per evening.
The lucky few can opt to sit at formal tables or around a high-counter that overlooks the open kitchen, getting a glimpse of the chefs at work. Jewel-tone leather seats have been dotted throughout, while the floor is clad in monochromatic rhombus-shaped tiles.
Golden brass pipes also snake across the restaurant’s walls, winding around shelves which display shiny pots and pans.
The top floor of Louis Vuitton’s Osaka Midosuji store also accommodates Le Cafe V, which will also be overseen by chef Suga.
Completed in a much lighter colour and material palette, the cafe features creamy terrazzo flooring, huge yellow sofas and iridescent discs dangling from the ceiling. Drinks orders are taken from a huge brass bar counter.
Tall glass doors can be slid back to grant access to an outdoor terrace that’s dotted with aqua-blue and lime-green furnishings.
Here visitors can get an up-close look at the store building, which Japanese architect Jun Aoki has created to resemble the billowing sails of a ship.
The opening of Sugalabo V is one of several recent notable events for Louis Vuitton. Just two months ago the brand reopened the doors its store on London’s New Bond Street, after over a year of renovation works.
Designed by American architect Peter Marino to evoke “happiness with no feeling of intimidation”, the space features a colourful array of artworks by figures like Tracey Emin and James Turrell.
The year 2019 also saw Louis Vuitton open a Frank Gehry-designed store in Seoul, South Korea, and launch an extensive exhibition in Los Angeles that showcased 180 items from the fashion house’s archive.
Source: Rooms - dezeen.com
