The French trunk-maker continues to celebrate two centuries of creation by settling its traveling exhibition in New York until the end of the year.
For over a year, the luxury brand has been paying tribute to the avant-garde spirit of its founder Louis Vuitton, born in 1921, embarking on a journey around the world with the “200 Trunks, 200 Visionaries” exhibition. Starting in Asnières, the House’s birthplace, it made stops in Singapore in April and Los Angeles in September, before settling in Manhattan, in the former Barneys building on Madison Avenue. This final destination is considered the most daring.
The concept invites luminaries from the worlds of art, culture, science, sports, and humanitarian causes to reinvent the iconic trunk through abstract concepts and invitations to dream. Guests include Marc Jacobs, Gloria Steinem, Supreme, BTS, Pat McGrath, Susan Miller, Scott Barry Kaufman, Jean-Michel Othoniel, and Jean-Philippe Delhomme. Visitors are first greeted by Monsieur Louis, transformed into a giant robot, made of digital trunks. Then everything starts with the original design of this revolutionary object, created in 1854, which serves as a blank canvas for all these virtuosos, from the four corners of the globe.
Visual experiences
The event takes place on four floors and gives way to eclectic, vibrant, and colorful atmospheres, including a “secret room” with the jukebox designed by DJ Benji B. Another warehouse-like space juxtaposes trunks with hanging works by Zhang Ding and Mimosa Echard. Elsewhere, Marc Jacobs designs the one covered in LV’s Stephen Sprouse graffiti print in an all-pink room. Further on, deep black corridors lead to Turkish artist Refik Anadol’s “Data Fabric,” a reflection on the future of the fashion industry between mirrors and digital screens. A heterogeneous panorama, therefore, open to all fantasies, like Robert Moy’s Brooklyn Balloon Company, made of epoxy-painted balloons, Peter Marino’s “Houdini trunk” locked with leather straps, or French pilot Franky Zapata’s flying one.
In the basement, a residency program called “The Residency” breathes new life into the New York creative scene, while showing how the creative team conceptualized the showcases. And finally, for sustenance and refreshment, the new Freds x Louis restaurant. The LV200 project is intended to be philanthropic, and the trunks on display will be auctioned by Sotheby’s in December.
Louis Vuitton: 200 Trunks, 200 Visionaries exhibition
October 14 – December 31, 2022
660 Madison Avenue, New York
https://fr.louisvuitton.com/fra-fr/magazine/articles/louis-200-exhibition#
Nathalie Dassa
Photo credits Jason Crowley/BFA.com – Louis Vuitton Malletier