Haute Plates: Instagram-Worthy Fashion Cafes
From Dior’s monogrammed soufflés to Ralph Lauren’s espresso tonic, fashion cafés are reimagining what it means to dine in style.
By Deepali Nandwani
Effortlessly cool is an attribute few spaces can achieve—particularly restaurants and cafés. Don’t get me wrong: there are enough ‘cool’ cafés across the world. But how many can flaunt an aesthetic that melds haute couture or high fashion with food and art?
Luxury and fashion brands have the advantage of creating Instagram-worthy cafés and restaurants that not just represent the brand’s values and aesthetic language, but also collaborate with the best talent in the worlds of food, art, and music to ensure the experience goes beyond just enjoying a good meal. They captivate the senses of both the peripatetic and the occasional traveller, who hotfoot it here to luxuriate in stylish interiors and Instagrammable food.
This European summer, Instagram feeds of luxury fashion houses such as Dior and Jacquemus have narrated a story beyond fashion—one of sun-drenched tables in Saint-Tropez and aperitivo hours in Capri, where branded restaurants are seasonal extensions of their aesthetic world. Rather than being gourmet havens, they are bohemian outposts that pay homage to the brand's innovative perspective.
Ralph’s Coffee by Ralph Lauren
The American fashion brand Ralph Lauren has expanded its global reach with the opening of Ralph's Coffee. Cities such as New York, Tokyo, Paris, and Singapore are home to speciality coffee and pastries in a retro, preppy setting. The interiors feature hunter-green banquettes, marble-topped tables, weathered oak, brass accents, and exposed brick, complemented by equestrian art and the signature polo bear, which greets guests at the entrance. The one drink to try: Espresso Tonic, or three espresso shots with a slice of orange and tonic. The food is rather limited: some pastries, wraps and sandwiches, but then who goes to Ralph Lauren cafés to eat gourmet food, eh?
Louis Vuitton Cafés
In 2022, Louis Vuitton launched its avant-garde café, Le Café V, on the roof of Louis Vuitton Maison in Osaka, Japan. Architects Jun Aoki and Peter Marino collaborated on the design for Maison Osaka Midosuji; Aoki has worked on numerous Louis Vuitton shops in Japan, besides the Fifth Avenue store in New York. In 2024, the first LV café in the United States opened—an unusual library café featuring a curated collection of 650 books, spanning titles by artists such as Stephen Sprouse, Jeff Koons, and Rem Koolhaas.
Café Maxime Frédéric at the LV store in Paris, with views of the Seine in Cheval Blanc, a tropical vibe, and LV’s monogrammed aesthetics are perfect setting for luxury snacking; dishes such as Scallop Soufflé (caviar and champagne beurre blanc), Le Croque ‘Louis Paris’ (white ham, Comté cheese, and black truffle) and monogrammed desserts find place on the curated menu.
In Bangkok, Le Café Louis Vitton is located within the LV store and stands next to Gaggan, a restaurant by the wizard of modern Indian cooking, Gaggan Anand. The café, a luxuriously laidback place, offers monogrammed desserts and drinks. The restaurant, on the other hand, offers a 17-course menu with Indian and French influences.
Dior
Dior takes dining rather seriously. Its stellar lineup of cafés and restaurants is often run in collaboration with chefs, some of them having headlined Michelin-starred restaurants. In Saint-Tropez, Dior des Lices stands amid luxury stores, situated in an imposing Provençal house with baby blue shutters. These kitchens have hosted chefs such as Yannick Alleno and Arnaud Donckele.
And yet, Dior’s cafés and dining experiences go beyond serving food—they are an immersive journey into luxury, fashion, and heritage.
In 2022, the brand reopened its historic flagship on Avenue Montaigne following an extensive renovation; the grand building, redesigned by Peter Marino, brings together couture, art,
and fine dining. For the restaurant, Dior collaborated with French chef Jean Imbert (alongside Antony Clémot). Many of the dishes drew from Christian Dior’s cookbook, La Cuisine Cousu-Main, such as soft-boiled Egg with Caviar, Truffle Croques, Granville Crab Ravioli, and Chocolate Pies or Vanilla Flans, a sweet nod to Dior’s legacy.
The 'coolest' slice of luxury interiors can be found at Dior restaurants and cafés. At Avenue Montaigne, Claudia Wieser's mirror sits next to a bespoke Guy Limone installation made from Dior archival imagery, and the oil painting Christian Dior à Table by René Bouché—creating a dining room that doubles as a gallery.
Within this sprawling Dior retail space is also La Pâtisserie Dior & Café Dior, which sits beneath a luminous glass roof with direct views of the boutique’s rose garden.
In 2024, Dior collaborated with French chef Anne-Sophie Pic to open two new restaurants in Ginza, Tokyo and Chengdu, China. The refined restaurant in Dior Museum, too, dishes up creations from Dior's cookbook.
Dior has opened Café Dior branches in most fashion capitals of the world, from Seoul to Saint-Tropez; their decor is lavish and art-infused.
Armani restaurants and cafés
Giorgio Armani—the brand, not the man—was the pioneer in hospitality forays among luxury labels. In 1998, it opened its first restaurant in Paris, the fashion capital of Europe (alongside Milan); today, that hospitality mini-empire spans 20 dining establishments across four continents.
Armani restaurants and cafés are strategically located within or adjacent to Armani boutiques and hotels, and dovetail luxury, design, and lifestyle. They meld Italian culinary heritage with regional influences, offering a range of experiences from casual cafés to Michelin-starred fine dining, all featuring Armani/Casa furnishings.
Michelin-mentioned Armani/Ristorante in Dubai’s Burj Khalifa is a minimal space with vertiginous ceilings, marble flooring, and a central glass-fronted kitchen where global sophisticates can watch chefs at work; the window tables offer views of the Dubai Fountain. Here, chef Giovanni Papi focuses on traditional Italian cuisine with a contemporary twist—signature Tortelli Piacentini (ricotta and spinach ravioli aged 24 months), herb-laden Green Risotto, and Cheese and Spinach Ravioli.
Armani/Ristorante in New York’s chic Madison Avenue is a contemporary space with vintage charm, featuring a champagne bar, high ceilings, eucalyptus wood details, and green lacquer accents. Executive Chef Daniele Castellano’s menu serves Italian recipes with a New York twist, emphasising seasonality and sustainability.
Armani/Ristorante in Milan plates up a menu curated by chef Ferdinando Palomba; at Armani/Caffè in Paris, you dine on a menu showcasing French influences, particularly classic pastries. Several Armani/Ristorante have opened in cities such as Tokyo and Munich.
Singular style
Not every brand is a chain. Some have these single sophisticated cafés in different cities. For instance, Tiffany’s Blue Box Café on 5th Avenue in New York—an earlier version of the café started in 2017, before LVMH acquired the brand in 2021, and reopened the flagship in 2023. The jewel box of a café is tucked away on the sixth floor, where blue boxes hang from the ceiling. In Paris, café visitors can unwind over a casual coffee and then dive into a sunken swimming pool at Le Plongoir Hermès. London shoppers get to feast on scones and cakes at Rose Bakery in Dover Street Market, from the creator of Comme des Garçons. Tokyo takes its designer restaurants seriously, with Michelin-starred spots from Chanel and Bulgari.