Rolling Trunks
Louis Vuitton teams up with industrial designer Marc Newson once again for a second luggage collaboration. Terence Lim takes a closer look at the Horizon Soft collection
’m a frequent traveller so i know what I want my luggage to do [for me], and I don’t think I’m alone,” says renowned industrial designer Marc Newson. And it is with this jet-setting lifestyle in mind that he designed the Louis Vuitton Horizon Soft, a new range of rolling luggage, which will hit stores this month. This is the second luggage project that the Australian creative mind and the French luxury maison have collaborated on, following the Horizon collection in 2016. “After starting with hard luggage where the parameters are naturally more defined and rigid, we have embarked upon stage two, which is the soft version,” he says. “I had to identify a suitable technology to give the project validity; I had to have a reason, something really compelling to kick the project off.” By technology, Newson is referring to how the outer shell of the Horizon Soft luggage is made. It is produced using thermo-formed 3D knit with a double-sided jacquard that features Newson’s take on Louis Vuitton’s signature Monogram motif. The knit is created using seamless knitting technology, a production process that Newson tailored with the manufacturer to the specific needs of the brand. Even the yarn is specifically made for the French luxury giant, featuring elastic and thermo-fusible threads. Besides the knit, other aspects of the Horizon Soft luggage are also made with novel technology. The cuts for pockets and zips on the fabric, for instance, are made with ultrasound-cutting techniques for precision, while conventional stitches are replaced with tape fused through heat setting. Before the one-piece knit is heat-formed to achieve its shape, it undergoes a water-repellent treatment to give travellers a peace of mind in the event of inclement weather. Ever the perfectionist, the seasoned traveller in Newson listed luggage weight and capacity as the key priorities for this project. Word has it that he tested the prototypes multiple times during the development process in order to reduce the weight to a minimum and also maximise the volume. This explains why a Horizon Soft cabin bag weighs no more than 2.9kg —lightweight but certainly ready for any rumble and tumble. Taking a leaf from the design blueprint of the first Horizon collection, Newson
has relocated the Horizon Soft’s anodised aluminium extendable cane outside from within the luggage. This way, it adds both structure and strength, and more importantly, eliminates the awkward protrusions and ridges typically associated with internal cane mechanisms. Now, there is only useful space left, increasing the interior packing space substantially. For the Horizon Soft collection, Newson, who also previously collaborated with Louis Vuitton to design the Celebrating Monogram backpack in 2014 and the fragrance bottles for its Les Parfums collection in 2016, custom-designed every single component, insisting that the brand work with suppliers to produce specific parts and not use those procured off the mass market. These include an ergonomic aluminium three-digit combination, Tsa-approved zip-pull lock system, which can be operated with just one hand, and two miniature wheels that have been engineered for minimal noise. The collection comes in the form of the Horizon Soft Duffle 55 Knit with two wheels and the Horizon Soft Trolley 55 Knit with four wheels. The former is available in yellow, orange, heather grey, black and Monogram, while the latter has fuchsia, heather grey and black as its options. All designs sport the brand’s Monogram motif on the opening flap. For those who prefer something with a more signature Louis Vuitton look, there is also the Horizon Soft Duffle in two sizes— 55cm or 65cm—and a special lightweight Monogram canvas. “Travel is so intrinsically linked to luxury, from a historical context to a functional context. The two just go hand in hand,” says Newson, alluding to the significance of luggage in the past and present-day utilitarian purposes. “Experience has been such an important part of this process. These objects really live or die on the road.” It only makes sense for Louis Vuitton to partner an award-winning industrial designer for the Horizon Soft luggage collection. But Louis Vuitton being Louis Vuitton, it does not just collaborate with any other vaunted designer; instead it chooses to work with one who is a seasoned traveller himself, understands the needs and requirements of people constantly on the road and believes in the house’s philosophy through and through. With Newson, it looks like the brand has snagged itself the perfect travel buddy.
“This luggage design can be defined as disruptive simply because no one has done it; it’s innovation really. Design, by definition, is disruption and innovation. If it’s not new, then what’s the point?”