Louis Vuitton's historic exhibit shares its century-long love affair with travel.
By Regina Kaza
The Louis Vuitton we know and love today is a luxurious brand famous for its monogrammed leather handbags and red carpet ready fashion tailored for the ultimate elite. But LV's history with travel goes beyond its six-figure luggage set, in fact, you could say the brand almost invented the modern travel accessories we use today. As travel developed, so did passengers' needs for carrying their priced possessions across and land and sea. So how did I end up at an exhibit in New York City posing under this airplane of drool-worthy leather? How could I not...
“Curated by Olivier Saillard, the exhibition retraces the adventure of the House of Louis Vuitton from 1854 to the present. A story told through the portraits of its founders, as well as those who today are inventing the Louis Vuitton of tomorrow.”
The limited-time exhibit walks you through LV's century-long history that began with one one man, a desire for adventure, an inability to travel light and his custom leather trunk. Before planes, trains and automobiles, travelers only had only one method of transportation to far-away lands and that was by boat. And since travel was reserved for the ultra-elite, the amount of outfit changes coincided with the events of the day — think your dressy breakfasts, strolls around the cabin deck and let's not forget all the evening events. As the 1800s were a time of cage dresses and several-piece suits, weekender bags were not an option and the average voyager traveled with 70-80 trunks per trip.
So just as boats, trains and planes evolved over centuries, so did this trunk company into the luxury luggage brand it is today and so much more. The exhibit walks you through the evolution of not only LV but travel itself, which is why I couldn't miss an opportunity to stroll through a museum of adventure, fashion and the reminder that humans will always follow their curiosity to faraway places.
