On September 16, French luxury giant Louis Vuitton held a three-day, unique localized brand carnival in the art coastal community of Qinhuangdao in the northern city Qinhuangdao . A series of immersive experience activities such as sunset parties, 24-hour movie screenings, outdoor yoga and fitness, and cultural conversations have made the brand's hot discussions on social media soar again. Behind this is not only the embodiment of LVLV
, but also leads us to once again pay attention to how an architectural cultural community stirs up the spark of commercial and brand value spread with brands.
©Louish Vuitton
#01
, who is well versed in the "spirit of place" LV
{ Spirit of Place }
This LV show, as of September 17, a total of 270 million viewers watched the LV spin-off show and online live broadcast. It has once again pushed Anaya, the original cultural and vacation community, into the focus of luxury goods and business.
©Louis Vuitton
On the beach, Louis Vuitton spent tens of millions to build a sculpture similar to a dune castle, just like the childhood beach game in the eyes of adults. Romance, innocence, creativity... just conveys the childlike theme that the brand wants to pursue in the 2023 spring and summer men's clothing show. It's hard not to contact a huge toy track show created by Louis Vuitton in Paris in June this year, and the opening of the show by the university's parade band - shows the heritage link between the two shows. Wang Qiong, senior vice president of Hualizhi, believes that this Anaya show is a refinement and reinterpretation of the concept of "enlarged amusement park" in Paris in June.
©Louis Vuitton
In recent years, the venue selection for luxury goods to hold brand shows has become increasingly in-depth considerations for creativity. As major luxury goods companies invest more attention in China, brands also need to dig deep into creativity and local links to achieve the increase in brand revenue.
Louis Vuitton
Louis Vuitton, which defines its own brand of DNA through travel, has previously visited all the world's well-known architectural landmarks. This year's brand's early spring fashion show was chosen by the Salk Institute in California, USA - a biology institute written by architect Louis Con. There has never been even thought of being a show there.
LV 2023 Early Spring Fashion Show: Salk Institute, California, USA © Louis Vuitton
The geographical location of the geographical location on the cliffs on the east coast of the Pacific Ocean, the pioneering atmosphere of the central "River of Life" along the axis, and the natural power created by light and air have achieved the "place spirit" that Louis Vuitton is looking forward to convey, and is multiplied with the concept effect of LV early spring clothing, which is natural.
©Louis Vuitton
Selection of Anaya this time is in line with this characteristic: pioneer space, eternal nature, inspiration place, and cultural community.
#02
Anaya becomes the "LV Town"
{ Anaya transformed into "LV Town"}
LV turns her attention to Anaya, perhaps because it meets the various elements required by a long-standing international luxury brand to hold a big show.
© Louis Vuitton
Anaya, which can be reached in two hours from Beijing, is compared by many people to the small town of Hampton outside New York City. It is not only a vacation healing paradise for the new middle class in China, but also a gathering place for new literary and artistic youth.
In the past decade, there have been continuous art exhibitions and music festivals represented by the Anaya Theatre Festival; Lonely Library, Dune Art Museum, Baccarat Theatre and other landmark pioneer buildings that have been constantly appearing in travel guides, as well as the five-kilometer-long pure coastline, making this place very well equipped with the basic conditions for dream creation.
©Louis Vuitton
Whether it is a drama, a romantic life, or a show, the common point is "dream creation".
This three-day schedule also made Louis Vuitton's big show go apart from other luxury brands that have only a live broadcast. The town of Anaya is decorated with LV design elements everywhere, making it transformed into a "LV town". The band performance at the opening of the Paris Fashion Show in Anaya became a short film produced by Jia Zhangke , which was uninterrupted in the 24-hour cinema, and can be entered and watched at any time. Cultural conversations, courses led by well-known fitness coaches, and sunset parties on the beach all enriched the days’ journey.
©Louis Vuitton
Louis Vuitton has also created many cartoon creative outer walls for the main landmark buildings in the Anaya community, customized shuttle buses and platforms, road flags, intersection ground paintings, etc., which looks more childish and dreamy in the vast view of the sea and sky everywhere. Louis Vuitton also brought its Librairies Éphémères project to Anaya. Two newsstands, once very common in old life, stand on the street corner, displaying and selling Louis Vuitton travel books series.
©Louis Vuitton
This way, using a "community town" to integrate the communication details of the brand is definitely difficult to achieve in a metropolis like Beijing, Shanghai and Chengdu. Not to mention the most impressive giant portrait sculptures in the show background, the colliding between the theme of this season's fashion series and the natural and relaxed temperament revealed by the vacation destination, and the dreamy scenes at the beach that make people feel like childlike, pioneering, retro, etc. All this is built on the plasticity of Anaya’s urban space.
© Louis Vuitton
Founder of Anaya Ma Yin Speaking of his views on Louis Vuitton's show in Anaya this time, pointing out that this is a proof that luxury brands are entering our lives from the high altar. "Luxury brands have begun to be closely related to our daily lives. People love brands and make them use them for me."
#03
"spiritual utopia" in the eyes of everyone
{ Spiritual Utopia}
Ten years ago, Anaya was just an unfinished resort villa project. At that time, due to the development boom in Beidaihe, the seaside villas were overdeveloped, and they were in an embarrassing situation of large size, difficult to digest and no popularity.
Anaya founder Ma Yin talked about the year when Anaya started in 2013 and said, "I felt like I fell into a big pit and took a piece of land on the beach ignorantly and fearlessly, but only after I really took over it, I found that the times have changed and the logic of traditional real estate cannot work."
©Louis Vuitton
"Since I don't know which customers to cater to, I just want to be a place I like." So in 2015, Lonely Library was born. The unintentional act of inserting willows made the video of "the loneliest library" popular on the online platform, making this unknown seaside community a new internet celebrity check-in place.
Architect Architect Dong Gong Source: Anaya
Afterwards, a series of buildings such as Annaya Auditorium , UCCA Sand Dunes Art Museum, Annaya Art Center, Baccarat Theater, and Seaside Station were launched one after another. Local cultural and fashion art festivals, Annaya Theater, Xiami Music Festival and other cultural activities have gradually gathered here, laying the foundation for Anaya's literary and artistic attributes and gradually becoming a "spiritual utopia" in the hearts of many young people and people in the art design circle.
Also designed by architect Dong Gong © Louis Vuitton
You can't define what exactly Anaya belongs to? Real estate projects? A resort? Cultural community? Theatre venue for the Drama Festival? It seems that it cannot be summarized most accurately.
With the breaking circle of artistic buildings such as Lonely Library, there are many home buyers who come as tourists and return as owners. There are also guests who come from afar, hoping to visit Anaya in a short time. But Ma Yin believes that "Anaya is not a scenic spot in essence, but a community with more than 5,000 households living in it." He hopes that those who come here can slow down the pace and truly experience the lifestyle of the cultural and artistic towns.
from the stills of the 2021 Anaya Drama Festival, source: Anaya
uses a service spirit to moisten things and spread a lifestyle silently. It seems that the biggest difference between Anaya and other cultural and tourism industries, vacation destinations, and even real estate projects in the country. TA does not care about speed, it will be immediate. Willing to spend time polishing a little bit. Polish the facilities of urban space and polish the relationship with people.
In a quiet moment, Anaya has extended its commercial tentacles to upstream and downstream industries such as film and television, hotel management, catering, horse industry, landscaping, education and training, creating a related diversified layout around its main business.
UCCA Dune Art Museum. Photography: Ni Nan
UCCA Sand Dune Art Museum. Photography: Hu Xuerang
At the end of 2020, Anaya announced that she would join forces with the FIRST Youth Film Festival to plan a "FIRST Laboratory Film Week" in Anaya, attracting a number of film enthusiasts to come here for the New Year; from 2021 to 2022, Anaya and Hainan Island International Film Festival jointly launched the "Island-based Writing Plan"; and co-sponsored the Haiwave New Power Film Plan, the Haiwave Film Week and other activities with China Film Co., Ltd. , Alibaba Pictures Group and other institutions.
from the 2021 Anaya Drama Festival stills Source: Anaya
The annual drama of the year "Eight Women" performed by the owner in 2015 is the first time Anaya and the Drama hold hands. Then, at the annual Anaya Drama Festival, neighbors performed themselves and brought classic dramas such as "Thunderstorm", "Teahouse", and "Jiang Gong's Face" to the stage. The owners who participated spontaneously enjoyed it and rebuild close relationships between neighbors in the community. "Rebuilding the intimate relationship between neighbors" has also become the selling point that Anaya's real estate projects have been repeatedly emphasized.
2020 "FIRST Laboratory Film Week" Source: Anaya
more community canteens, skate parks, horse farms, golf driving ranges and yacht clubs that focus on sports and leisure, Anaya entrepreneurship camps and children's farms specially established for children, etc., enriching the life experience of owners and tourists. The establishment of Anaya Daohe Kindergarten in the community also means that Anaya has taken an important step in the exploration of community management.
Ma Yin said that as a project with both community and vacation attributes, Anaya will do some educational exploration and practice for the long-term development of the community, and can create a deep connection with the owners.
Baccarat Theater overlooking ©Wild Photos and Things Institution
Baccarat Theater Performance Scene ©Shiran Architecture Photography
#04
Revelation from Anaya
{ Insights from Anaya }
After the Anaya model became popular, projects with the theme of "Poetry and Distance" and creating community operations of the same type began to emerge in endlessly. But some professionals also said that Anaya’s replicability is more about products, communities and models, and the brand is the core asset of a project. Ma Yin bluntly said, "Anaya's success lies in the integration of culture, art, service, innovation and architectural design. These four points are very important."
Baccarat Theater © Shiran Architectural Photography
New Weekly 2021 Life Trend Report believes that when residents change from community activity participants to community culture builders, when consumers' preferences simultaneously affect the direction of community development, this community culture generated by stimulating group identity and resonance has become the core competitive advantage of the sales end of cultural and tourism projects.
Daohe Kindergarten Source: Anaya
Last year, Anaya proposed the goal of marching towards the "world-class theater art pioneer". Ma Yin hopes, "Anaya should not become a place where 1 million people come once, but a place where 100,000 people come 100 times." During years of community operations, Anaya tried to reach her soul through the sense of ritual in life, but unexpectedly gained huge commercial value and finally linked it with the LV International Show.
Louis Vuitton once again successfully flooded the screen with its location selection strategy for its innovative show, creating a sound wave for its brand communication. At the same time, it shows his willingness to work hard on the local culture and be willing to make deep connections with Chinese audiences.
and Anaya has also successfully transformed its image of the public cultural architectural space community into a contemporary brand symbol through this cooperation. What it conveys is that Anaya, who built Chinese contemporary design, contemporary architecture and lifestyle with her own strength, is not just synonymous with narrow "literary and artistic feelings", but is also open and an area where equal dialogue with world-class brands in fashion, culture and art. In comparison, the domestic and international attention and traffic that flocked to social media is just a natural gain.
In this sense, whether it is Virgil Abloh and LV who advocate "create a global community and transcend the elitist and regional restrictions that may appear in subculture", or make themselves containers of good content, emerging culture generators, and pioneer community Anaya have achieved win-win results in this show.
edited | Queena Yao
edited | Daisy
proofreading | Miki
