Into the Chengdu Chill: Louis Vuitton’s City Guide and Journey to China Fragrances

Written by Fête Chinoise Editorial Team
Images courtesy of Louis Vuitton

This October, Louis Vuitton brought the city of Chengdu to life through an immersive experience blending literature, scent, and cuisine. Marking the debut of the updated Louis Vuitton Chengdu City Guide, the “Chengdu Chill” pop-up at Regular Park offered visitors a curated journey through the city’s vibrant culture. Traditional bamboo weaving, sugar painting, calligraphy workshops, and storytelling by local artists harmonized with Louis Vuitton’s signature design, creating a dialogue between heritage and contemporary expression. Poet Zhai Yongming shared her personal reflections on Chengdu, while a specially commissioned track by musician Ma Siwei brought the city’s rhythms to life.

The experience extended beyond the visual and tactile: Louis Vuitton introduced the Journey to China fragrance collection, created by Master Perfumer Jacques Cavallier Belletrud and his daughter Camille. Inspired by China’s rich olfactory heritage and art de vivre, the collection comprises Rain Tea, Ink Mark, and Moon Tale. Each fragrance embodies a distinct cultural ritual: Rain Tea evokes the contemplative precision of the tea ceremony, Ink Mark captures the soulful expression of Chinese calligraphy, and Moon Tale reflects the poetic allure of China’s legends of the Four Great Beauties and flowers. Jacques Cavallier Belletrud explains, “China is made up of a mosaic of cultures – it’s an extraordinary blend of absolute modernity and ancestral traditions reimagined for the current day.”

The fragrance bottles also pay homage to China’s artisanal history. Inspired by vintage apothecary flasks, their silhouette references Chinese snuff bottles—once functional objects for preserving snuff tobacco, later transformed into delicate works of art. Louis Vuitton celebrates this union of beauty and utility, with each bottle reflecting the unique character of its scent. A set of miniature versions, designed for collectors, completes the olfactory journey, embodying the Maison’s nomadic spirit.

This sensory journey continued at the Michelin-one-starred The Hall by Louis Vuitton, where the updated menu infuses Chengdu flavors into refined, contemporary cuisine. From the written word to fragrance, to taste, the “Chengdu Chill” experience offered a multi-dimensional exploration of the city’s spirit: a philosophy of presence, leisure, and discovery that Louis Vuitton translates into travel, design, and now, fragrance.

The Journey to China fragrance collection is available at Louis Vuitton Maison Chengdu until December 31, and the City Guide is downloadable via the Louis Vuitton City Guide App until November 13.

More from Fête Chiniose

Into the Chengdu Chill: Louis Vuitton’s City Guide and Journey to China Fragrances

This October, Louis Vuitton brought Chengdu to life with an immersive experience blending urban discovery, scent, and gastronomy. Marking the debut of the updated Louis Vuitton Chengdu City Guide, the “Chengdu Chill” pop-up at Regular Park invited visitors to explore the city’s vibrant culture.

Art at the Fingertips 指尖上的藝術

Suzhou, an ancient Jiangnan city renowned for its picturesque waterways, is also home to the millennia-old art of Su embroidery. Using needles as brushes and silk threads as ink, embroiderers create intricate designs on plain silk fabric, reflecting the refined beauty of Jiangnan’s canal towns. As one of China’s four great embroideries (alongside Xiang Hunan, Yue Guangdong, and Shu Sichuan), Su embroidery captivates with its refinement, delicacy, elegance, and purity, embodying the ethereal beauty of the region and the cosmos.

A Lunar Tribute: TUDOR’s First Moon Phase Watch Celebrates the Mid-Autumn Festival with Jay Chou

As the moon prepares to shine at its fullest during the Mid-Autumn Festival, TUDOR introduces a timely new addition to its collection: the 1926 Luna, the brand’s first watch featuring a moon phase complication. Designed in collaboration with TUDOR ambassador Jay Chou, the release draws inspiration from Eastern lunar traditions, offering a mechanical tribute to a cultural moment that celebrates family, unity, and reflection under the moonlight.

Born to Dare: David Beckham in Toronto to Celebrate TUDOR

As Fête Chinoise continues to celebrate our 10th anniversary, we find ourselves reflecting on what it truly means to stand the test of time, and to be daring in our universe of story-telling, publishing and experience-making. Honouring legacy while embracing bold, creative evolution is at the heart of our work — a parallel vision we saw powerfully reflected at the recent TUDOR Evening with David Beckham in Toronto. We learned firsthand how the TUDOR x Beckham partnership continues to redefine what it means to be timeless.

Fastening Elegance: Royce Chau weaves creative flair into the traditional craft of floral button-making 綻放於衣裳上

The art of crafting handmade knotted floral buttons, a cherished Chinese tradition, often goes unnoticed by modern fashion enthusiasts. Adorning cheongsams and other garments, these buttons complement the chosen fabric and colour, serving as a small yet intricate detail in the time-consuming tailoring process of traditional Chinese dresses. Royce Chau knows this firsthand, having studied tailoring Chinese garments when she couldn't find a traditional Chinese outfit she liked while living in Singapore. Unable to find what she sought in numerous department stores, she resolved to learn how to make one herself.

The Master of Traditional Handmade Silk Buttons 傳統花釦之工藝大師

In Hong Kong resides a traditional artisan of embroidered button fasteners for cheongsams (qipaos) and other garments. Master Po Ming-Wah is one of the few artisans of this craft still practicing in Hong Kong today, however, this art is becoming extinct. Fête Chinoise had an opportunity to sit down with Master Po and presidents of Cheongsam Connect, Anita Tsang and Donna Cheung in Hong Kong to better understand the history and current challenges of the practice. Each of Master Po’s intricate knots have auspicious names, an intentional meaning, and a corresponding design.