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Paris Greens baulk at giant Louis Vuitton bag on Champs-Élysées
Complaints after luxury French fashion house covers scaffolding of new hotel with an advert for its iconic luggage
Louis Vuitton has been accused of tarnishing the Champs-Élysées with its plans to install a giant mock-up of a trunk on the French capital’s most famous boulevard.
The luxury French fashion house is constructing a new hotel along the avenue, due to be completed in 2026, and intends to hide the building site under a façade made to look like one its trademark travel accessories, which sell for tens of thousands of pounds a piece.
Its exterior will be emblazoned with the brand’s monogram – initials, flower blossoms and four-point stars.
But the garish plan has provoked the ire of some local politicians, who argue the facade is an eyesore that violates advertising laws.
In a letter to the Paris mayor’s office, green party deputies contested the legality of the proposal.
Emile Meunier, a local councillor and member of the Europe Ecology-The Greens party, argued that existing legislation permits for no more than 50 per cent of any heritage building to be covered in adverts while subject to works.
“Paris without advertising is not a naive dream, it is a call to rediscover the very essence of our city and its beauty,” Mr Meunier said in a post on Twitter.
“Environmentalists are on the front line to return our streets to poetry, imagination and history, far from the sirens of this consumer society.”
Local politicians
It is not the first time local politicians have confronted Louis Vuitton over its advertising.
In June, the firm was forced to remove its logo from a handbag that was part of a giant 50-foot statue of Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama overlooking its central Paris headquarters after petitioning from Green party officials.
The Louis Vuitton building, which sits just 500 metres from the iconic Arc de Triomphe, formerly housed the headquarters of HSBC and, prior to that, was a grand 400-room hotel inaugurated in 1899 called the Hotel Elysées-Palace.
When complete, the new boutique hotel will span 64,600 square feet complete with a spa, bar and restaurants, as well as nine suites.
The redevelopment project was greenlit by local authorities this Autumn.
Although it is scheduled to open three years from now, the project may yet face delays due to the city’s overwhelming focus on the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The Telegraph has approached Louis Vuitton for comment on the claim their plan breaches French law.