Gargantuan Louis Vuitton Trunk in Red Square Insults Ghost of Lenin

In Moscow right now, an LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA installation sits in the middle of Red Square. It consists of a gargantuan faux-trunk, decorated with the traditional Louis Vuitton pattern. The trunk is so big, in fact, that it’s bigger than Lenin’s tomb. Uh oh.

As seen on Business of Fashion, Bloomberg reports:

The exhibit, which commemorates the 120th anniversary of the adjacent GUM mall where Louis Vuitton has its flagship Russian store, is 30 meters (32 yards) long and 9 meters tall, according to the Paris-based company. The mausoleum where Bolshevik leader Lenin’s mummified body is on display nearby is 24 meters long and 12 meters tall.

Oh dear. Capitalism eclipsing communism. Can’t have that. One Russian lawmaker, Alexander Sidyakin, has filed a complaint.

The installation is of “unreasonably gigantic size” and violates the architectural feel of the entire complex, Sidyakin said in his complaint. It obscures views of St. Basil’s Cathedral and the Kremlin towers and may inconvenience Muscovites and tourists alike, Sidyakin said, noting that such advertising isn’t allowed at a Unesco World Heritage site.

A trunk of “unreasonably gigantic size” is almost as bad as a rodent of unusual size. Even if the trunk is a giant replica of an LV trunk ordered by Prince Vladimir Orlov in the early 20th century. As this one is. Sidyakin is taking it up with the Federal Anti-Monopoly Service, but the organization has declined to comment. LVMH isn’t saying anything either, unless you count “raking in heaps and heaps of dough from luxury items” as a statement. It’s obvious who’s winning this one. In the immortal words of Wu Tang, C.R.E.A.M.