But now, the whole shopping-as-entertainment thing seems akin to overdressing at a soup kitchen. Maybe the recession has killed off trendiness, at least for now, if not forever.
"The aspirational market doesn't have as much disposable income now," Wagner tells me. "But that doesn't mean it won't come back."
That is why she and other marketing gurus say the store's opening at the height, or depth, of the recession isn't quite as crazy as it might seem.
For one thing, while the overall luxury market is, like other sectors, down at the moment, Louis Vuitton has managed to buck that trend: According to an article in the Wall Street Journal in April, first quarter sales at Louis Vuitton and a couple of sister labels were up 11 percent, boosting revenues at its parent company, LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton.
"There's a critical mass of wealthy people in the Washington-Baltimore area," said Milton Pedraza, CEO of the marketing company, The Luxury Institute.
While I always assumed that much of that was old money - who might wear their clothes until they were threadbare and were loath to flaunt their wealth too much - Pedraza tells me that if we're like the rest of the country, that's an outdated image. Some 85 percent of people worth more than $5 million are self-made richies, not trust-funders, he says.
Pedraza says Louis Vuitton has ridden out the recession better than other luxe labels because it's quietly stuck to its core strengths rather than stuck its logo on anything and everything. "In general, many luxury brands have been cheapened," he said, citing brands like Coach and Giorgio Armani that will "put their label on a piece of canvas and call it a designer product."
While there's "real economic hurt" out there, Pedraza says, people are starting to look toward the future.
"Can we see a future in front of us that is brighter? Well, unemployment is up, the stimulus hasn't taken an effect that we can see," he said. "But we are seeing the bottom of it."
Wagner thinks Louis Vuitton is also looking to a better future, whenever it arrives.
"I think they want to be poised for the recovery," Wagner said.
Through thick and thin, one thing is permanent, she said: "People find a way to indulge themselves. If you don't buy a big handbag, you can buy an accessory."
While there are signs that the wealthy are a bit abashed at being seen spending too much - The Daily Beast Web site recently had a story about how some shoppers in New York were asking for plain wrappings for their pricey purchases instead of Hermes' trademark orange bags or Tiffany's robin's-egg blue ones - for many, being seen with a recognizable label is the whole point.
As Pedraza says, "We're all peacocks."
