The Louis Vuitton Trunk and the Exhibit “Volez, Voguez, Voyagez”

With nine total chapters, this thematic journey, thought up and staged by Robert Carsen, opens with the brand’s supreme symbol: an ancient trunk, the sort no longer used in modern days, that once incarnated the emblematic codes and audacious spirit of Louis Vuitton. Indeed, ever since its founding, the brand has distinguished itself from its contemporaries through a series of inventions and innovations that today constitute a timeless lexicon of motifs and shapes. The Damier canvas, created in 1888, was eight years ahead of the iconic Monogram canvas that juxtaposes plant motifs, geometric figures, and the LV initials. Since the development of the flat trunk that it perfected, the brand has never ceased to enrich its vocabulary with volumes, functions, and other signatures. Armory trunks, courier trunks, secretary trunks, “Idéale” trunks, hat trunks, low trunks and high trunks… they’re all presented in this exhibit and confirm the renown of Louis Vuitton, who “packs up” the most fragile objects with a “specialty for the packing of fashion”.

Objects and documents from Louis Vuitton’s heritage as well as a selection of pieces on loan from the Musée Galliera are all highlighted in order to enrich this exclusive and exciting walkthrough. Pieces from capsule collections, exclusive and antique pieces, documentary archives… they’re all here! A room dedicated to the brand’s savoir-faire closes out the exhibit and brings us behind the scenes of the brand’s ateliers. This is the backstage of Louis Vuitton and all the savoir-faire they’ve put on display

– On display at the Grand Palais from December 4, 2015 to February 21, 2016 –

 

 

 

 

Louis Vuitton and the celebrities: Key dates

 

1854 : The French Empress Eugenie is a Louis Vuitton’s customer and appoints the malletier as the official provider of luggage for the Imperial court.

1869 : The Khedive of Egypt is gifted Canvas red striped trunk at Suez canal opening.

1870 – 1920 : The customization becomes the unique trait of Louis Vuitton: not only the luggage hosts the client’s initials but is fully personalized according to the needs of the customer. There are trunks holding beds (for the explorer de Brazza during his expedition in Congo), others with whole libraries, others, again, with tea sets (Indian Maharajas) or all the tools needed for personal care (the Tsar Nicolaji II).

1872 : The Sultan of the Ottoman Empire Abdulhamid II asks LV for a trunk purely for his underwear.

1923 : The empress of the French theatre Sarah Bernhardt dies: she’s been one of the legendary customers of Louis Vuitton for half a century.

1940 : Ernst Hemingway commissions a luggage with a typewriting machine set.

1950s – 2000s : The LV luggage become a must for celebrities and are immortalized in the movies: from Love in the afternoon (1957) to Titanic (1997), The talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Catch me if you can (2002), Sex and the city (2008), Blue Jasmine (2012) and hundreds of other films.

 1957 : Simone D’Aillencourt becomes Louis Vuitton new testimonial and is portrayed by Henry Clarke on Vogue.

1965 : Audrey Hepburn asks for a mini version of her Keepall: the Speedy bag is born. Jackie Kennedy becomes one of the first fans.

1967 : The world famous model Twiggy becomes the new Louis Vuitton testimonial for the Papillon bag.

1996 : LV chooses to celebrate its 160 years asking seven stylists to reinvent some classic pieces of the brand. Among these, many true stars like Karl Lagerfeld, Christian Louboutin and the architect-star Frank O. Gehry, who also designed the LV foundation building.

2003 : It’s still the time of big contemporary artists when Takashi Murakami is invited by LV to revolution the Monogram Multicolor and to create the Cherry Blossom line.

2006 : Annie Leibovitz signs the first of her numerous campaigns for LV. Here the singer Pharrell Williams becomes the protagonist.

2008 : The creative director of LV and superstar of the world of fashion Marc Jacobs is the protagonist of the new ad campaign, posing naked in a series of spots.

2008 : The supermodel Laetitia Casta and the legend of classical ballet Mikhaïl Barychnikov are protagonists for LV thanks to Annie Leibovitz.

2008 : LV has an eye for the values of sport with the Annie Leibovitz’s campaign dedicated to intimate relationship of the the tennis champions André Agassi and Steffi Graf and to the concept of leisure and friendship with Pelé, Maradona and Zidane.

2008 : Keith Richards from the Rolling Stones is protagonist for Louis Vuitton.

2010 : Bono, the U2 voice and frontman is protagonist of a LV campaign for Africa concerning the Art of travelling.

2010 : Annie Leibovitz and Steven Merisel turn the glance of LV towards the showbiz: Madonna, Jennifer Lopez and the singer and dancer Marques Houston are protagonists of some iconic photo shoots.

2003 – 2011 : LV choose Angelina Jolie, Scarlett Johansson and Uma Thurman as the new faces for its ads.

2012 : The human side of sport is again protagonist in LV advertising when Annie Leibovitz and Steven Merisel portray the swimmer Michael Phelps and Mohamed Ali and his grandchildren for that year’s LV campaign.

2008 – 2010 : Annie Leibovitz signs an iconic series of spots dedicated to the art of travel. Among these a notorious travel interview with Mikhaïl Gorbatchev, an iconic ad with Catherine Deneuve portrayed as a passenger nearby an early 1900 train with references to the Lumiere Brothers, Francis Ford Coppola and his daughter Sofia in the Savana and Sean Connery into an exotic scenario.

2012 : The contemporary art star Yayoi Kusma creates the Infinitely Kusama collection and the LV Monogram is again reinterpreted.

2014 : LV creates the Invitation au voyage campaign with the legendary David Bowie as a protagonist.

2015 : Annie Leibovitz portrays Charlotte Gainsbourg for Louis Vuitton. She’s the link between different generations of celebrities, being daughter of Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg.

2017 : LV gives birth to the iconic collection of bags signed by one of the superstars of contemporary art, Jeff Koons.

2011 – 2016 : LV launches the iconic SC capsule collection of bags, designed together with Sofia Coppola. Along the years the item will finally become a key accessory of LV collections.

2017 : For the launch of its first connected watch, the Tambour Horizon LV bets again on superstars. Catherine Deneuve, Adèle Exarchopoulos, Jaden Smith, Jennifer Connelly, Laura Harrier, Miranda Kerr, Victor Cruz, Yaya, Lu Han, Doona Bae, Gong Yoo, Ebizo Ichikawa are the protagonists.