LOUIS VUITTON
Reimagining an icon
WHEN GEORGES VUITTON created the Louis Vuitton monogram in 1896, an icon was born. The monogram, which honoured his late father, is recognised globally as the signature of the maison. Throughout the monogram’s history, Louis Vuitton has repeatedly embraced the notions of innovation, collaboration and daring.
It is within this context that Louis Vuitton’s “The Icon and the Iconoclasts: Celebrating Monogram” project appeared on October 15, 2014. Six creative iconoclasts – Christian Louboutin, Cindy Sherman, Frank Gehry, Karl Lagerfeld, Marc Newson and Rei Kawakubo – were given carte blanche.
Louboutin, the French footwear designer who has amassed a cult-like following for his red-lacquered soles, created something that, in his personal experience, is unmistakably Parisian. “This is how the idea of the caddy came about,” says Louboutin. “The bag is totally attached to the sight of somebody shopping the markets of Paris.” Louboutin, of course, gave his design a touch of red.
Sherman, an American photographer and filmmaker known for her conceptual photographs admits “I just really wanted the trunk myself!” of her trunk-turned-vanity creation. “The trunk is so personal to me. I have handwritten labels for all of the compartments: fake eyeballs, fake teeth…” she mentions, alluding to her photography for which she typically assumes the role of director, make-up artist, hairstylist and model. The interior colour was inspired by the iridescent green of her parrot’s wings, while the exterior displays faux travel stickers, some of which feature her photography.
Gehry, the renowned architect of the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, among many prestigious projects, created a handbag structured after his signature curvy architecture. “I hand-drew the monogram for the embossed interior,” says Gehry of the inner’s pale dark blue hue. “It all happened intuitively.”
Lagerfeld, Creative Director of both Chanel and Fendi, designed a large piece of luggage with a punching bag inside. “It’s a huge toy for spoiled grownups,” he says. To complement the oversized luggage, he designed a bag with boxing gloves. He also designed a separate bag inspired by punching bags, available in different sizes.
Newson created a backpack. which he structured to enable it to stay upright. The industrial designer and Creative Director of Qantas uses the monogram canvas as the base of the backpack “like a tyre on a car”.
The upper section sports furry sheepskin in bright colours, because Newson dislikes “things that take themselves too seriously.”
Kawakubo, Japanese founder of fashion house Commes des Garçons, sought to create something new when contemplating her design. “There are various ways of breaking to create something new,” she says. “This time I tried to play it straight: I simply made some holes in the fabric.” Her design, along with all of the others created by this set of iconoclasts, certainly brings newness to the brand’s historic monogram.