Louis Vuitton trunk: the installation that has taken Paris to court

An emblematic installation… but at what price for public space? Louis Vuitton’s giant trunk, visible since November 2023 at 103-111 des Champs-Élysées, is now taking on the courts.

A complaint against privatization deemed illegal

On May 2, 2025, a number of Parisian ecologist elected representatives – David Belliard, Émile Meunier, Jérôme Gleizes, Nour Durand-Raucher and Laurent Sorel – together with the associations SOS Paris and Résistance à l’Agression Publicitaire, brought the case before the Paris Administrative Court. The subject of the dispute? The large trompe-l’œil tarpaulin installed by LVMH on the building that is to house the very first Louis Vuitton hotel by 2027.

The plaintiffs denounced the ” commodification of public space ” and the installation of a sign that did not comply with town planning regulations. According to their lawyer , Valentin Güner, there are a number of problem areas: no explicit authorization from the city, no consultation with the Architecte des Bâtiments de France at the outset, misuse of the term “temporary sign”, illegal advertising on a listed building.

Defending City Hall and Louis Vuitton

Paris City Hall, for its part, has already responded in the past via AFP:

“The tarpaulin is not an advertisement; the building belongs to LVMH. It is an authorized temporary sign.”

It also stated that the Architectes des Bâtiments de France had given their approval, and that LVMH had agreed to pay a tax of 1.7 million euros for the duration of the installation.

A case emblematic of the tensions between art, luxury and public space

According to its designers, the Louis Vuitton trunk was intended to symbolize an architectural transition between the values of the house and the ambitions of a future luxury hotel. For its opponents, however, the trunk embodies a growing stranglehold of brands on iconic Parisian landmarks.

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