Louis Vuitton Architecture and Interiors Published by Rizolli.

The fact is that the way people shop has changed irrevocably in the last 20 years, in fact not just hte way we shop, but the way we even find things to buy has changed, the very fact that you are reading this post, on a blog about luxury goods, is testament to this fact.  it will not be unusual for a person to see an item on a friend or passer by, go home, research, find different options on the web, create a shortlist, selct the one they want, find a store, find their size, and purchase the bag/shoe/belt etc, without ever setting foot in a store, speaking to a representative, leaving their hoe even, and in a few days it is delivered to their home,  this is an everyday ocourence.

so if individuals can do everything they might have to do in store without leaving the comfort of their home, barring the occasional 'special' visit to a store, why would the majority of people bother to go a shop offline?  The only answer to this question is the experience, the experience of shopping offline must be so exceptional as to tempt us from our beds, and homes, onto trains and into cars, and into the stores.

Louis Vuitton knows this, as do many other top end brands, for years LV have been making their stores so exceptional that visiting them has been more than just a shopping experience, their Paris store for example houses an art gallery on its top floor, and touches like these make shopping part of an overall experience rather than the reason to go there.

Part of the experience is the building in which the products are housed, in Louis Vuitton's case these are also always exceptional, the aforementioned Paris store for one, and their London 'Maison' is another.  A new book published by Rizzoli and Editions de la Martiniere will be released on the 1st of October, and priced at £80, this 304 page book will contain some 300 illustrations of the brands Window displays, some of which are artworks in their own right, and the architecture and interiors of the brands stores, including exclusive architects sketches, and interviews with peter marino, christian de portzamparc and jun aoki.