Image : I.W.Club
SOUTH KOREA. Louis Vuitton has made a spectacular airport debut in association with Shilla Duty Free at South Korea’s Incheon International Airport.
Deemed one of the biggest days in the history of South Korea’s travel retail & duty free market, Louis Vuitton opened its first-ever airport store at Incheon on 10 September.
As the world’s leading luxury brand, Louis Vuitton said the opening was “the recognition of the outstanding quality that Incheon Airport has shown throughout the years.”
Travel retail media joined with journalists from Korea, China and Japan for the opening ceremony which included a ribbon-cutting conducted by Lee Boo-Jin, CEO and President, Hotel Shilla; Yves Carcelle, Chairman and CEO, Louis Vuitton; Lee Chae-Wook, CEO, Incheon International Airport; and Jean-Baptiste Debains, President, Louis Vuitton Asia Pacific.
The new store in Incheon is 550 square metres and is dedicated to Louis Vuitton’s passion for travel. The store features leathergoods, women’s and men’s shoes, watches, belts, ties, textiles, fashion jewellery, sunglasses, watches and other luxurious accessories. An exquisite entrance area (pictured) is deliberately free of products but replete with spectacular imagery intended to alleviate the stress of travellers.
Shilla Duty Free Executive Vice President and Head of Duty Free Division, Jason Cha said: “I am very proud today but this is all about Louis Vuitton and Incheon International Airport. We are just the facilitator of this collaboration and I’ve very happy for that.”
Incheon Airport has approximately 45 direct flights to Chinese cities so Louis Vuitton is now in business within a great window for mainland Chinese shoppers.
Lee Chae-Wook said: “We are celebrating the first Louis Vuitton airport store in the world. I’m sure this shop will be very successful…and a lot of Chinese, Japanese and worldwide passengers will come because of this shop.”
According to the analyst firm Generation Research, South Korea was the world’s largest duty free market in 2010 with revenues of US$4,005 million. With growth during last year of 33%, the country was also one of the fastest-rising in the world, only surpassed by Hong Kong, Taiwan and Argentina in terms of growth rate of duty free sales.
Via LuxuryProject /
Luxury News / Golden Choice by Lux Creative International
