Like the other brands in the world of fashion and design; Louis Vuitton is a renowned design company that has passed the test of time with a good reputation in the market. Started in the mid 18s’ by Louis Vuitton, the company began as a trunk design firm after which it extended its offering to leather bags, shoes, jewelry, books, watches and other accessories. Louis Vuitton is now a world’s leading brand that sells its varied products through; the standalone boutiques operated in more than 50 countries, the company’s e-commerce site and in various lease department stores spread worldwide.

History of Louis Vuitton Trunk design

It was in the year 1837 when the then-16-year-old Louis Vuitton arrived in Paris & started apprenticing for Monsieur Marechal. This was the very moment when Louis found his passion for design and took it the next level. At that time, boats, trains, and horse-drawn carriages were the major means of transport. Baggage was handled roughly and could get torn or damaged on the way. Travelers opt to protect their own items by calling upon craftsmen to make trunks for them and pack their luggage. Louis did his work with a touch of modesty and soon he was a renowned and highly specialized box designer. He stayed in the artisanal industry for 17 years working for several clients before opening his own workshop. It’s thought the box design and crafting task, that Louis earned himself the ticket to create history in the fashion and lifestyle world!

Louis Vuitton products

From the trendy handbags, jewelry & timepieces, shoes, fragrances to several men’s accessories; each and every Louis Vuitton product has been crafted with much passion & precision. The brand is quite concerned about its design as far as quality and customer satisfaction is concern. The company is very touched about its trademarks and is fully focused on offering the best in the market. The striped pattern, for example, plus the unique color combinations marks the LV signature and gives it an unmatched trademark in the fashion & design world.

Being one of the world’s most valuable brands, Louis Vuitton has impartial stores and luxurious boutiques with both men and women collections. Among the women collections are; Fragrances- (campaign, collection, savoir-faire, and universe.) other products include the ready to wear clothing, books & writings and other personalized products such as Mon Monogram and Hot Stamping.

Among the men’s collection are men’s bags, jewelry & timepieces, ready to wear (jackets, Polo t-shirts, denim, outwears, leather and pants), shoes and small leather goods. All the men’s accessories and wear are available across the LV worldwide stores in various countries.

The Rise of Louis Vuitton Brand

Several bag shapes and clothing designs are now available across the Louis Vuitton stores. Some of these designs have remained popular and have stood several years in the fashion arena. Most of the bag’s shape and design were introduced in the 1900 and have only been modified in one way or the other to fit the modern day technology.

The steamer bag, for example; was originally designed to be kept within the luggage trunks in 1901 while the Keepall bag was introduced in 1930. Noe Bag followed after and was designed purposely for carrying Champagne way back in 1932. Later in 1966, the Papillon bag was introduced; it came in cylindrical shape and is still selling to date.

The advancement in technology brought in a lot of goodies to the Louis Vuitton designs. The new coating; a supple version of Monogram canvas was introduced in 1959 and this paved way to the designs of bags, wallets, and purses. As the company progressively ventured into the ready wear and clothing designs; Marc Jacobs was appointed a creative director for Louis Vuitton.

He was able to transform part of the company’s investment into the men’s and women’s ready to wear collections. To grow and extensively build the brand, Jacobs joined hands with Stephen Sprouse (a renowned designer) in the year 2001. They were able to create a limited edition line of bag products featuring the LV trademark written in graffiti just over the monogram pattern.

The Louis Vuitton house has cultivated a number of strong celebrities under Marc’s direction. Several Models, Musicians, and Actors have been the face of the LV brands. In the year 2012, Louis Vuitton was named the number one world’s most valuable luxury brand for the 7th year in a row; this was after a brand study conducted by Brown Optimor (a multinational market researcher). The other competing brands were Hermes and Rolex that came second and third respectively.

This post was sponsored by Stefanie Mikulics, MD

 

Louis Vuitton, commonly referred to as LV, is regarded one of the greatest fashion icons in the world. Spanning an age of over 160 years, the 1854-founded French fashion house has become a worldwide brand garnering itself a myriad of titles and successes noticeable to everyone. With a valuation of over 30 Billion, Louis Vuitton has become associated with luxury and pride and all of its products are some of the best in the market. From leather products and trunks, to jewelry, shoes, accessories, books and even sunglasses, LV has penetrated the markets of over 50 countries.

The history of Louis Vuitton paints a picture of a brand that managed to outlive its founders and grow exponentially as time went by. The fashion house was founded by Louis Vuitton in 1854 as an attempt to outdo HJ Ositile trunks to be more accommodative and spacious. This attempt was so successful that several other luggage makers forthwith made their trunks with Vuitton’s design. Vuitton is famed for extending his works to London as his first international base in 1885. Vuitton founded an established brand that was passed on to his son George Vuitton in 1892 upon Louis demise. It is George’s attempts that, however, put Louis Vuitton on a global brand. It his during his tenure as leader of the fashion house that Louis Vuitton participated in New York, Buenos Aires, Washington, Alexandria, London, Bombay, Philadelphia and Chicago. The most notable store opening of that time was the 1913 Champ-Elysees Louis Vuitton Building that was the biggest in the world at that particular time.

So luxurious is this brand that according to Millard Brown it was the most luxurious brand in the world for six consecutive years between 2006 and 2012. This has had a lot of positive effects for the company but has, unfortunately, also attracted a lot of counterfeiting. In 2004, it is estimated that almost 18% of all counterfeit good seized in Europe were LV fakes. This has led the company to put in place many anti-counterfeiting measures including worldwide agencies and undercover investigators to ensure minimal fakes arise in the market. This has been a successful attempt by the fashion house as there has been a minimal leaking of fakes into the worldwide market. The stores that retail the products are thus certified stores vetted and approved by the fashion house. This has, in turn, created public acknowledgement of the existence and curbing of fakes in the international market. The fakes proved to be a costly affair for the brand as it incurred losses and luck of trustful measures from certain clients.

The most outstanding trait of LV products is its handmade craftsmanship. Almost all of Louis Vuitton’s products are crafted and designed by professionals. There is therefore minimal inculcation of machinery in the line of production. This introduces uniqueness and a personal touch to the products from this fashion house. Since the 19th Century, Louis Vuitton has consistently used the brown Damier and monogram canvas materials with the iconic LV initials in all its products. The products have a consistent channel of distribution and particular stores that the products are sold in. this minimizes the effects of counterfeiting. So luxurious are some of the products that they are pre-ordered before dispatch to specific stores for specific buyers. Some of the most luxurious products that are preordered are the Neverfull bags and Speedy bags.

It is imperative that for such a company, advertising is very key. Louis Vuitton has used many actors, musicians and even models in its ad campaigns. This has greatly increased its market grip in the worldwide market. From Wiz Khalifa to Kanye West, whose music has the brand being mentioned severally, to Madonna, Michelle Williams and several other actors such as Hayden Christensen, Sean Connery and Angelina Jolie, LV has greatly invested in celebrity endorsements that have in no doubt paid off. Print, audio and audio-visual media are also an advertising forefront for the fashion house.

It is no doubt that LV is one of the greatest fashion statements anyone can ever make. From the luxury brand associated with it, to good designs with a personal feel and a long-lasting material used to make it, Louis Vuitton products stand out in their entirety. It is no doubt one product that everyone should own in their lifetimes.

 

Louis Vuitton Suitcase Bar

for the Person Who Takes Everything When They Travel

Louis Vuitton, how could you not just love the beauty and classic styles of their designer bags? That familiar LV logo jumps out to the world with a significant love of the style. Products that are infamous the world over from one of the top designer brands for exquisite luggage, bags, and purses. But the line of goods purchased by real lovers of the brand include some offerings that are not the normal.

Maybe those are words that just don’t seem to fit together when your thoughts go to these distinctive monogrammed bags. It was during the 80s that Louis Vuitton created the suitcase bar, this customized variation on the grand designs of his classic luggage.

For those individuals with very demanding tastes and desires that a connoisseur of finely aged whiskey could possess. Keeping the elegant feel of leather the front of the suitcase bar folds down to display all the different compartments they could require.

A Suitcase Bar?

This portable bar was complete with glass carafe with silver mounts, silver ice bucket, serving tongs, and a small dish. And to stay true to the immaculate details of all Vuitton items the silver in the set displayed the well-known Christofle mark especially for Louis Vuitton.

 

The brand didn’t leave out those who wanted something similar while not wanting the full bar effect, the trunk designed for wine or spirits was produced to fill that need. With those images of these beautiful but slightly different Louis Vuitton items, it might cause someone to wonder what other unusual things come with the infamous logo.

Louis Vuitton Strange Items

Depending on welcome perspective rugs could be considered rare, but if you look to the world of Louis Vuitton designs, there are some that take extraordinary to the farthest edge of odd. A Vuitton inspired doggie purse’ could be seen causing someone to wonder what could have been the reason. The bag’s strange little dog eyes might even seem to follow your movements.

Familiar classic watches, backpacks, and shoes are things we expect with Louis Vuitton, but the one thing that stays the same are the feelings of someone about their designer bag. As Leap Year’s Louis Vuitton became nearly another character in the movie with all the worries about Louis’, the suitcase bar is sure to be as large a part of any owner’s life.

Louis Vuitton Inspired Unusual Items

Louis Vuitton odder than usual items probably consists of the dog bed, while it might not truly be an unusual thing it is most definitely not an average one. But with the world’s fascination to this unique line of designer products, it would seem that anything goes.

 

Individuals have taken the Vuitton style all the way to covering their homes with the classic monogram making the top of the list of things that someone probably shouldn’t monogram. Or it could just be the tip of the iceberg as people place the familiar logo on toast, sunglasses, trashcans, and their faces.

 

 

 

Where does it stop for the distinguished list of Louis Vuitton items? Maybe the toilet seat, assault rifle, handgun, or hockey goalie helmet? But why stop there? Anyone anywhere could love the Louis Vuitton brand which explains the waffle maker and chainsaw. Or does it? Who knows what is unusual and what is just something different?

 

One of the most expensive Louis Vuitton purses is the Patchwork Bag that cost $45,000. It was a classic styling of over the shoulder bag and created from the material taken from fifteen other Vuitton bags. There were only 24 of this particular and very different Louis Vuitton bag created. While it was not the average, classic look of the designer, it sold out in just a short span of time.

Which tells the world that even those who appreciate the quality and style of this artist possess a whimsy sometimes.

The world may have seen the first Louis Vuitton suitcase bar of the 80s as a strange offering from this famous design house. But apparently the world found this a great addition because the line has continued. That same beautiful line of the Vuitton brand found in modern versions of the suitcase bar.

While the things listed, have been from the exquisite to those that make you wonder, what’s next?

The Speedy bag is probably the most popular and in demand bag that Louis Vuitton has. It launched in 1930 and was originally presented as a travel case. The Speedy became really famous when actress Audrey Hepburn requested a speedy in the 25 size, a mini one. Speedys come in 4 sizes; 25, 30, 35, and 40. Also, they come in the bandouliere (with the crossbody strap) or can get it without the bandouliere. The materials the bag comes in are the Monogram/Damier canvas, Epi Leather, and Empriente Leather.

Surprisingly, the Speedys can fit a lot of things inside even the smaller size ones. The 25 size can fit a regular size wallet. There are base shapers for the Speedy so the bag won’t sag if you’re carrying it. The base shaper will add structure to the bag. Speedys are really durable and can survive any harsh weather conditions.

If I was planning to get a S

peedy in the future, I would get the one in Damier ebene with the bandouliere in the 25 size. I like the look of the bag and it can fit a lot. A youtuber named Allie Sevdalis has this bag and has inspired me to get one. Hopefully I can save up for it because they are expensive. This bag has price inflations ever year.

Although, a lot of people have bought Speedys on eBay for much cheaper prices and in pretty good condition. You have to look to see if the bag is real or hire an authenticator for Louis Vuitton.

Of Rags and Riches: The Life and Accomplishments of Louis Vuitton’s Creative Director

The talent, will, and strength of character to pursue one’s dream to its maximum potential is found in only a select few individuals. It’s safe to say that in the world of fashion, Nicolas Ghesquière can be counted among those few. His self-made rise to success and fortune is matched only by his imagination and skill as a designer.

Born in northern France and raised in Loudun, Nicolas took advantage of his wealthy upbringing to practice many hobbies and sports, including horseback riding, swimming and fencing. Yet from the young age of 12, he already had strong aspirations to be a fashion designer. He worked diligently toward this goal throughout his adolescent life, from making dresses from his mother’s curtains, to working internships at age 14. By 19, he was already an assistant to Jean-Paul Gaultier, another successful designer. By the age of 25, he was chosen to head Balenciaga, a fashion house in Paris, which gained critical acclaim during the time he spent as its creative director.

During his time designing clothes for the Balenciaga house, Nicolas was known for his skill with contrast in design, from pairing high-waist skinny pants with a large blouse to jumpsuits with puffed sleeves. It’s not a stretch to say Balenciaga’s commercial success during the 2000’s can be attributed to Ghesquière’s contributions to the house.

But it wasn’t until 2013 that Ghesquière would join the Louis Vuitton Maison as its creative director, replacing the previous director of over 15 years, Marc Jacobs. Ghesquière wowed the fashion world with the release of his spring 2015 line, which featured various colorful and contrasting looks. In 2016, he gained worldwide attention with his spring-summer 2016 line, featuring accessories and clothing inspired by Japanese manga.

During his illustrious career, Ghesquière has received critical acclaim in various forms. In 2001 he received the CFDA “International Designer” award. Time Magazine included him in their list of 100 most influential people in the world in 2006. One year into his time with Louis Vuitton, he was named by the Wall Street Journal as Fashion Innovator of the year, and received the British Fashion Award for best international designer that very same year.

Nicolas Ghesquière is currently still working on Louis Vuitton’s 2016 line; and will likely continue to  rise in skill, influence and success as he works with the Maison.

 

The Louis Vuitton Maison has taken unconventional means to market their products, but their latest strategy is a real game-changer. The Maison is rolling out series 4 of its 2016 spring-summer line, but their fashion model is none other than Lightning Farron, the protagonist of the Final Fantasy XIII series of video games. This marks the first occasion in which a video game character has served as a fashion model for real-life products, let alone products belonging to such a prestigious designer.

Lightning can be seen on Louis Vuitton’s promotional videos performing acrobatic stunts while sporting several outfits and accessories from the series 4 lineup. Lightning’s attire includes the “Nano Malle Galuchat,” a mini-handbag priced at $199.00, the Japanese manga-inspired “Heroic Tiara” priced at $930.00, and the eye-catching “Bicolore Calfskin Jacket,” which is described on Louis Vuitton’s website as ‘strong, yet feminine.’ There are dozens of ensemble outfits in the spring 2016 line, including a black studded linen blouse, a reflective embroidered dress, and a black top with leather details on the shoulders.

The architect behind this campaign is none other than Vuitton’s current creative director, Nicolas Ghesquière. In an interview with Telegraph, he explained that the latest line was inspired by video games, and that using Lightning as a model serves to explore uncharted territory in art and expression. Telegraph also snagged an exclusive interview with Lightning herself, and she expressed nothing but positivity about Vuitton’s latest collection and her experience serving as a model for them.

The announcement and images featuring Lightning in Louis Vuitton attire caused quite a stir among fans of her and the game series she stars in. While some were pleased with the exposure and normalization of gaming in modern culture that this clothing line would bring, some were skeptical as to why the cold and masculine Lightning was chosen to be a fashion model. Many have said her sister Sera, the protagonist of Final Fantasy XIII-2 and more effeminate of the two sisters, would have been a more appropriate choice to have as a fashion model. Nicolas Ghesquière seems to know what he’s doing however, as the campaign has succeeded to raise quite a few heads in both the fashion industry and in the gaming world, and such attention is all one really can ask for. It remains to be seen whether or not this line will be more or less successful than previous ones.

Noticeably absent from this line is both a male line of clothing, as Lightning’s line consists solely of women’s clothing and accessories, as well as a male counterpart to show off such a line in a similar fashion to Lightning. Final Fantasy developer Square Enix has no shortage of male characters that would be perfect for such a task. The brooding yet sensitive Cloud Strife of Final Fantasy VII fame comes to mind immediately, as he will be staring in a new game soon. There’s also Noctis, the newest protagonist in the series and main character of the soon-to-be-released Final Fantasy XV. If this is the route Louis Vuitton has chosen in the marketing of its new line, there’s really no reason not to go all the way. Regardless, as new looks are added to the 2016 lineup through spring and summer, Lightning will likely make more appearances in Louis Vuitton’s promotional material; a fascinating addition to the fashion world.

 

The LV Now section of the Louis Vuitton website has some super interesting interviews with some major celebs where they share their love for LV!!

Some of the celebs interviewed are:

• Lea Seydoux (an actress from France who has starred in some American films like Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol)
• Alicia Vikander (well known Swedish actress)
• Bae Doona (So.Korean actress who co-starred in Cloud Atlas, Jupiter Ascending and Sense8)
• Liu Wen (first Victoria’s Secret model of East Asian decent to walk in their fashion show)
• Jennifer Connelly (oscar winner!)
• Adele Exarchopoulos (French actress)
• Cecilia So (Model and actress from Hong Kong, she likes the new backpacks!)