Louis Vuitton's next show will be in Hong Kong

Pharrell's next show for Louis Vuitton in Hong Kong will take place in partnership with the billionaire Cheng family, whose eldest son, Adrian, recently became the new investor behind 1017 Alyx 9SM. The show, scheduled for Nov. 30, will feature the new Pre-Fall collection at the waterfront Avenue of Stars on Hong Kong's Victoria Harbor. The show is part of a partnership with K11 Musea, part of New World Development Co. Hong Kong's harbor project to make the island the new global destination for luxury shopping. The city is in the middle of a trade zone that is attracting the attention of big brands and includes Macau and the tax-free island of Hainan. Now Hong Kong's problem is tourism: despite the government's efforts to revitalize tourism, including initiatives by tycoons such as Henry Cheng and his son Adrian Cheng, September tourist arrivals only reached 59 percent of 2018 levels. Certainly, international tensions surrounding the island have not helped.In recent years, Hong Kong has become a popular destination for the biggest names in luxury fashion, for shows and more. In addition to Louis Vuitton, which opened the exhibitions Louis Vuitton: A Passion for Creation in 2009 and Time Capsule in 2017, last April Chanel opened a VIP-only exhibition area, A Journey into Allure, while in 2021 Gucci opened the immersive Gucci Garden Archetypes exhibition to the public. In 2019, Chanel had announced that it would present the Cruise 2019/20 collection in Hong Kong, but the event was cancelled as social protests in the city escalated at the time.

After the reopening of China's borders last spring and the return to normal life for the country's population, the luxury bigwigs have once again begun to leverage their major commercial hubs, including Tokyo, Shanghai, Seoul and Hong Kong, which is why the show represents an unparalleled opportunity for Louis Vuitton. Despite the pandemic, the LVMH parent group's turnover has continued to grow since 2020, having reported an 82% growth in leather goods sales in the period between the start of the COVID emergency and 2022, amounting to $38.6 billion in total. Of this, $20 billion came from Louis Vuitton alone. According to market experts, the unexpected boom in luxury sales during the pandemic is seeing slight restraints, and will return to pre-COVID levels of 5-6% growth in the future. Consumer spending cuts have been recorded more in the US, which might further explain why, despite the fact that the Parisian brand now has a US art director, who also inspires his designs from American culture like predecessor Virgil Abloh, LVMH chose to bring Louis Vuitton to China.