ROSE ABOVE THE REST
Lancôme reinvents one of its most luxurious ranges —the Absolue—to put the roses back into your cheeks
Crocodile, alligator and snake skins—the most exclusive and luxurious of their kind—are combined with truly impeccable workmanship to deliver bags that are the stuff of bag aficionados’ dreams. Louis Vuitton holds back no expense when it comes to achieving the perfect luxury item for their customers. Selecting only the cream of the crop of skins as soon as they are tanned, the fate of each skin is then determined; from what design best fits the scales’ natural patterns to what colour and finish will soon adorn its surface. From then on it is an adventure, an exhilarating journey of exploration into the ways the skin’s natural beauty can be best showcased though a plethora of hues, treatments and innovations to enchant the senses of its beholder. The permanent palette of 25 colours that Louis Vuitton exotic bags are available in doesn’t come easy though, as it takes 15 different trials to develop the perfect dye recipe. Adding to that, there are still the seasonal colour options to think of. With an eye for detail, Louis Vuitton’s master craftsmen adjust each colour till they achieve the exact tone and deepness. Although the exotic skins are also available in their classic finishes, the fashion house is often raring to try the unexpected and revamp its existing treatments for exotic skins to better suit the changing landscape of fashion. However, the painstaking process of dealing with exotic skins doesn’t stop with just the picking of the colour palette. Louis Vuitton bags require
three separate skins for each bag and thus, the artisans behind the scenes will then pick the skins which fulfil two requirements: the three skins must have continuity of scale pattern where the edges of the bag meet and the treatments for each skin must have been done in a way that ensures the colour and sheen of each surface matches to a T. To achieve a finish of that glossy, glazed quality, the stone used to hand-buff each skin must be polished every two days to maintain its perfectly smooth surface. The entire process from tanning, dyeing to nourishing and buffing the skins takes approximately six to 10 weeks, then it’s another six weeks before the skins’ surfaces can be further coloured, nourished and buffed. Only after this lengthy beautification process can the finished skin be crafted into a bag. Embarking on this journey through a brave new frontier with the use of exotics, Louis Vuitton has already proudly showcased the fruit of their labour through the maison’s autumn/winter 2018, Cruise 2018 and other permanent collections. Among the varied finishes that Louis Vuitton has tried, some like the ‘raku’ treatment inspired by cracked glaze on Japanese pottery or the matte ‘shousugi-ban’ technique stand out. Undoubtedly these new approaches take the world of bespoke bags to new heights of which we cannot wait to explore.
Selecting only the cream of the crop of skins as soon as they are tanned, the fate of each skin is then determined