A Flying Carousel Is the Star of Louis Vuitton’s Holiday Campaign

AROUND THE WORLD: Louis Vuitton is taking fans of the brand on a merry-go-round ride around the world in its new holiday campaign, set to break on its social channels Wednesday in tandem with a series of physical activations in China, Japan and France.

In a video directed by Lope Serrano, models cross a snowy landscape and step onto a carousel featuring animals including a giraffe, a zebra, a gazelle and a snail, painted with variations on the French fashion house’s signature Monogram motif and Damier check pattern.

The carousel lights up and lifts off, taking its glamorous revelers on a tour of the locations that have formed the backdrop of the brand’s campaigns and events this year.

While the mountain peaks are a nod to the Dolomites, the setting for Vuitton’s “Core Values” campaign featuring Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, the backdrops also include seascapes evoking the brand’s sponsorship of the America’s Cup sailing competition in Barcelona, and illuminated skylines that bring to mind its Voyager Show in Shanghai in April.

The illuminated carousel ends its journey on Place Vendôme in Paris as fireworks erupt overhead.

The campaign, which will live on the Vuitton website and social channels, will be echoed in its window displays for the holidays, while exact physical and working representations of the carousel will pop up in five locations at various dates between Nov. 19 and Jan. 19, starting with the Wynn Palace luxury resort hotel in Macau.

Other destinations will include the Vuitton store at Shanghai’s Taikoo Li Qiantan shopping center; the Hangzhou Tower Shopping City mall in Hangzhou, China; the Yokohama Museum of Art in Yokohama, Japan, and Place Vendôme itself, in a neat case of life imitating art.

In Paris, access to the carousel will be decided on a first come, first served basis, while in China, visitors will have to reserve a slot, either by scanning a QR code on location or via the “My LV” WeChat mini program, a spokesman for the brand said.

In addition, Vuitton plans to launch an AR filter, downloadable on Instagram, that virtually plants the merry-go-round in your physical environment, as well as a holiday e-card service, available from the end of November on its website.