Following the teaser featured back in June, here’s the full editorial celebrating Louis Vuitton’s iconic monogram in a fantastic shoot by Karl Lagerfeld. Altogether, Christian Louboutin, Cindy Sherman, Frank Gehry, Karl Lagerfeld, Marc Newson and Rei Kawakubo reinterpreted the intertwining letters on a handful of contemporary and classic goods. The photo series touches upon the brand’s traveling heritage and brings it up to on-trend pieces via the use of a punching bag and Louis Vuitton bag with holes.
Karl Lagerfeld
Karl Lagerfeld and Louis Vuitton punching bag, trunk and suitcase, prices upon request.
Karl Lagerfeld, who photographed and illustrated this portfolio, was in the mood for a fight—of the luxury kind. His Punching Bag and Trunk are a handy fashion-industry metaphor if there ever was one.
Frank Gehry
Franck Gehry & Louis Vuitton – Throwing a curveball.
Frank Gehry explored another landscape: the architecture of style. (He was commissioned to design the Fondation Louis Vuitton, a grand contemporary art museum in Paris’s Bois de Boulogne, scheduled to open next month.) Gehry’s bag is literally true to form: “It’s a rectangular box, and it’s twisted a little bit. I think a curve is feminine, and it just adds a feminine touch,” he explains. “We made 10 variations, but they loved that one. We all did.” Will Gehry love it enough to carry it to the museum’s opening? He laughs. “Okay, if I have to.”
Cindy Sherman
A case of pure vanity. Cindy Sherman & Louis Vuitton camera messenger and studio in a trunk, price upon request.
Cindy Sherman, known for her unsettling self-portraits, went behind the scenes with the trunk she created. “I was thinking, sort of selfishly, of what I could use. Initially, my idea was just a makeup case, just a small old-fashioned kind. The team at Vuitton was so taken with the idea that they said, ‘Well, what if we did a trunk? In your ideal fantasy world, what would you like?’” So she started to think bigger. “At home in New York, I have shelves for fake eyeballs, fake nails, eyelashes, and things like that. So it became a little traveling studio in a way”—a foldout trunk complete with labeled drawers, a makeup mirror, and a stool, and covered in retro travel stamps from imaginary destinations.
Marc Newson
Newson or Jetson? Marc Newson and Louis Vuitton, fleece backpack, price upon request.
Marc Newson was always planning to carry on. When he designed his backpack, he had practicality in mind. “Often my inspiration is simply to create something I personally want to use.” But he’s also the frst to acknowledge that his classic logoed design topped with jazzy orange feece isn’t your garden-variety backpack. “I’d like people to use it like any other backpack, as an excellent travel companion.” Pause. “But not for camping, obviously.”
Christian Louboutin
Red solemates. Christian Louboutin & Louis Vuitton classic caddy price upon request.
“Okay, when you’re going to the organic market,” Christian Louboutin explained,“you can be superglamorous.You don’t have to feel like a loser with your leeks inside your bag.” Of the iconic LV, Louboutin says, “I not only see two letters, but I really see a drawing. Your eyes are captivated.That’s the strength of that monogram.”
Rei Kawakubo
No holes barred. Rei Kawakubo & Louis Vuitton bag with holes, price upon request.
The enigmatic Comme des Garçons designer Rei Kawakubo’s traditional tote is partially burned out, with three holes revealing the bag’s lining and merely a “LOUIS VU…“
