Louis Vuitton’s flagship store in Hawaii has been renovated to emphasize the Waikiki site’s historic architecture and character, with modern interior design and work by local artists on display.
After extensive interior work and enhancement work on the facade, the re-imagined store reopened in late November. It’s sited in the historic Gump Building at 2200 Kalakaua Ave., designed by architect Hart Wood and opened in 1929 as the site of a Honolulu branch of the S&G Gump Company’s department store. The site served as a Gump’s through 1951.
The building design blends elements of East and West, with an overhanging, peaked tile roof and, in the interior, a “moon” door influenced by Asian architecture. Louis Vuitton acquired the building in 1991 and has operated at the location since 1992.
The interior has been completely redesigned in the recent renovation, removing walls that compartmentalized the space, and revealing the original 1920s Art Deco window design, with its metal, geometric latticework.
A prominent feature is the building’s modernized staircase, made with thick, wooden steps that now seem to float over a blue-glass covered section of the ground floor.
The handrail is wrapped in turquoise leather — an unusual, colorful and tactile embellishment.
The blue-glass section below the stairs, evoking the ocean, is made of volcanic stone covered by imported glass.
A colorful, dynamic painting by Kaili Chun, “Nana i ke Kumu” (“Look to the Source”), is prominently displayed on the ground floor, in a section of the store entered through the wood-latticed moon door.
Chun, a Native Hawaiian artist who has created highly visual installations at the Honolulu Museum of Art and the Prince Waikiki, said kumu fish were highly valued in Hawaii; found in shallow waters, they were considered a delicacy, and were included in offerings marking new beginnings, such as the launching of a canoe, or opening of a new building.
“Nana i ke Kumu” “strives to invoke the viewer to look to their own sources of knowledge, spirit, learning and interconnectedness to nature and to use it wisely,” Chun said, in her artist’s statement.
Upstairs, an art wall by Hawaii artist Brandy Serikaku depicts island flora.
Also notable: hanging Cocoon chairs designed by Fernando and Humberto Campana, part of Louis Vuitton’s limited-edition Objets Nomades collection of furniture and objects created in collaboration with international designers.
The art and design complement Louis Vuitton’s luxury wares, which include leather goods, accessories, shoes, ready-to-wear, fragrances, watches and jewelry. Exclusive items at this Louis Vuitton include leather Trunk Clutch and Mini Boite Chapeau bags in a deep purple hue, inspired by the color of the Gump’s building’s tiled rooftop and unveiled at the store’s re-opening.
LOUIS VUITTON WAIKIKI
2200 Kalakaua Ave.
Open 10 a.m.-11 p.m. daily
971-6880, fb.com/LouisVuittonHonoluluGumpsBuilding
