LONG DAY’S JOURNEY INTO LOUIS VUITTON VOLEZ, VOGUEZ, VOYAGEZ

Louis Vuitton Exhibition

Even before travel moved from necessity into the realm of leisure, it had always lured with the romance of possibilities. The Louis Vuitton Volez, Voguez, Voyagez Exhibition at the American Stock Exchange Building (86 Trinity Place, through January 7, 2018) serves as both reminder of this and a testament to the brand’s historic role as beloved and reliable travel companion through over a century’s worth of journeys in style. The comprehensive installation, curated by esteemed fashion historian Olivier Saillard and designed by Robert Carsen, debuted at the Salon d’Honneur of the Grand Palais Paris in 2015 and has moved to Seoul and Tokyo before arriving here. 

A tale told in ten chapters and three floors, the exhibition encompasses the earliest iterations of the venerable malletier‘s trunks from the Trianon grey (1854) and the Damier canvas (1888) to the Monogram canvas (1896) and beyond. As modes of conveyance evolved so too did luggage’s functional and design innovations. Here are valises for trekking through the Saharan deserts, suitcases and grips for sailing the Mediterranean or boarding Express d’Orient from Paris to Vienna, and portmanteaux of various sizes for months-long transatlantic crossings. 

Interspersed among the precious objets are documents from the brand’s heritage archives, along with pieces on loan from private collectors, special edition collaborations with artists such as Stephen Sprouse, Takashi Murakami, Yayoi Kusama and Jeff Koons, and fashions from designers in residence Marc Jacobs and currently Nicolas Ghesquière. There is even an entire section dedicated to pieces owned by Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald, and custom created for prominent American families including the Guggenheims, Vanderbilts, Hearsts, and Rockefellers. The final stop is a glimpse of the artisanal craftsmanship that still exists at its Asnières ateliers. 

High adventure courses through this remarkable march across Louis Vuitton’s fashion history. Each display seems like an inspiration to plunge into the unfamiliar, to saturate the senses with discovery, to revel in the panoramic vastness of experience. With Louis Vuitton in hand, mais bien sûr. 

IMAGES © Louis Vuitton