Update: Louis Vuitton and department store Gum have been forced to remove the temporary building because it exceeded the “maximum parameters” permitted.
The building, which was to house the label’s new exhibition, caused controversy with Russian MPs who said that it was too close to the tomb of Vladimir Lenin and obscured the historic Kremlin. A member of the country’s communist party claimed that the installation trivialised a “sacred place”.
“Considering the views of some members of the public, and the fact that the pavilion’s size has surpassed the agreed parameters, we told Louis Vuitton about the need to dismantle the pavilion immediately,” read a statement on the Gum website.
A giant Louis Vuitton trunk has been assembled in Moscow’s Red Square ahead of the opening of an exhibition dedicated to the famous Parisian fashion brand. From December 2, 2013 to January 19, 2014, the ‘L’Ame du Voyage’ (or The Soul of Travel) special exhibit will be dedicated to legendary adventurers and travelers – including Karen Blixen, Pierre de Brazza Savorgnan, Sofia Coppola, Catherine Deneuve, Isadora Duncan, the Empress Eugenie, Greta Garbo, Zaha Hadid, Ernest Hemingway and more. Proceeds from the exhibition will go to the ‘Naked Heart Foundation,’ founded by model Natalia Vodianova.
