JKR

Enjoying a morning coffee in the Paris sunshine I was intrigued to see a queue forming outside the Louis Vuitton store opposite. The reason was clear: here is a flagship which knows it’s an experience not a shop. The windows are theatrical and seductive, dramatic, beautiful and proud. Gold curtains and logo inspired screens (reminiscent of those a maharaja’s harem might be glimpsed through) promise the shopper entre to another world.

The displays soar above you in tall vertical windows, imbuing a display of clothes with celestial power…

The brand’s more edgy aspirations are telegraphed by mannequins in day-glo colours who appear to have been graphitied by Keith Haring or Stephen Sprouse…

And the LV imprint of quality is less suggested, more trumpeted with heaps of golden shoe nails and hammers, beautiful silken yarns and other props as vibrantly beautiful as they are elegant. It ain’t subtle but it is stunning…

This is destination shopping epitomised, as evidenced by the queue who busy themselves posing for snapshots. Held back to presumably prevent the calm of the store becoming over-run, they act as further window dressing and living proof of the adage that one should never let one’s supply outstrip the demand…

So, luxury brands apart, what can be learned here? I think these windows show a powerful display of spirit, provenance, craft and joy. Something just as achievable on a box of beer in principle and not to be confused with prosaically displaying the wares one is actually selling.