LVMH-owned French luxury house Louis Vuitton recently unveiled its third mainland Chinese “maison” concept boutique – essentially a major flagship – in Chengdu’s Sino-Ocean Taikoo Li complex, writes Leatherbiz.

This latest opening follows the establishment of Louis Vuitton maisons in Shanghai and Beijing in 2012 and 2015, respectively.

The 2,000 square-metre retail, cultural and lifestyle space in Chengdu marks the brand’s fourth store in the city, itself the capital of southwestern China’s Sichuan province and a major local luxury hotspot. It also celebrates 30 years since Louis Vuitton opened its first store in China in Beijing in 1992.

Stretching across two buildings and an open courtyard, the boutique’s design for the first time incorporates an entire historic building, Guangdong Hall, which was constructed in the western Sichuan architectural style in the early twentieth century.

Original artworks and furniture by contemporary Chinese creatives decorate the interior, which also features an outsized “tiger tail” that winds its way in and out of the space in a direct nod to Chinese New Year in February. (According to the Chinese zodiac, the upcoming year corresponds to the year of the “black water tiger”.)

Louis Vuitton waived a typical store opening in favour of local audience engagement with the installation, which has so far received a positive response from Chinese netizens, according to a Jing Daily report.

In the five days immediately following the boutique’s unveiling on January 21, Louis Vuitton earned more than 4,000 directly associated user-generated posts on the Xiaohongshu (Little Red Book) content and e-commerce platform. Meanwhile, a ten-second Weibo video showcasing the tiger tale won around 73,000 views and “many congratulations” over the five-day period, the same publication said.