Louis Vuitton Trunk: The Icon That Stood Time

The iconic trunk from Louis Vuitton, nearly 170 years old, comes in beige and brown and serves as a versatile item that can transform into a library, cocktail bar, jukebox, or vase. It is more than just a desirable piece of luggage; it is an artistic object, a repository of stories, and the foundation on which the Louis Vuitton brand was built.

Mastering the Craft of Trunks

Louis Vuitton understood the importance of perfecting traditional trunk making before venturing into unconventional ideas. He spent 17 years mastering the craft before establishing his own company in 1854. By that time, he had already gained recognition as a skilled artisan, catering to an elite clientele that included the Empress of France, Eugénie de Montijo, for whom he served as a personal box-maker and packer. The sign outside his first shop in Paris proclaimed, "Securely packs the most fragile objects. Specializing in packing fashions."

Traveling in Style

Recognizing the growing travel needs of his clients, who were journeying farther and more frequently, Vuitton saw an opportunity to create more durable and portable luggage. He designed a flat-topped, rectangular trunk that could be easily stacked in ships' holds or railway baggage cars, departing from the prevailing domed trunk designs of that era. This trunk was covered in Trianon canvas, a lightweight yet resilient material, and styled in fashionable grey to match Empress Eugénie's salons. Its popularity prompted competitors to imitate the design, leading Louis Vuitton to expand the range of trunk coverings over the years, including striped canvas (1872), chequered Damier canvas (1888), and the legendary Monogram canvas introduced in 1896.

The Louis Vuitton Signature Design

The Monogram canvas, featuring Louis Vuitton's initials along with floral and star motifs, was conceived by Georges Vuitton, son of Louis, as a tribute to his late father. Though some customers initially preferred luggage personalized with their own initials, the unique and intricate design of the Monogram canvas gained momentum. By the 1910s, LV-monogrammed trunks became the preferred choice of affluent travelers.

Louis Vuitton trunks stood out not only for their elegance but also for their innovative features. Each trunk was equipped with a pick-proof lock, a pioneering creation by the brand. This lock was put to the ultimate test when Harry Houdini attempted and failed to escape from a box secured with a Louis Vuitton lock.

One of the most fascinating aspects of Louis Vuitton trunks is the opportunity to commission bespoke creations. Since the early 1900s, the Louis Vuitton atelier in Asnières, located in the outskirts of Paris, has been producing special orders tailored to clients' specific wishes and needs.

The extraordinary trunks and their owners have been documented in the book "Louis Vuitton: 100 Legendary Trunks" published in 2010. Examples include the Trunk Bed used by French explorer Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza during his 1905 expedition, the Desk Trunk owned by flamboyant Russian exile Princess Lobanov de Rostov in the early 1900s, lined with pink satin and scented with perfume, and Ernest Hemingway's Library Trunk from 1923, which was discovered in the basement of The Ritz Paris after the writer's death and contained the long-lost manuscript of his posthumous masterpiece, "A Moveable Feast."

The Evolution of the Louis Vuitton Trunk

Louis Vuitton's trunks have transcended their original purpose of packing fashions. The brand has created extraordinary designs that subvert expectations and come in various sizes. For instance, the enormous Takashi Murakami-designed Marilyn Trunk from 2007, which featured 33 bags within it and sold for an astonishing $500,000. In 2019, Louis Vuitton introduced the Sneaker Trunk, a grand piece made of Monogram Eclipse canvas, boasting double doors and 14 separate sections specifically designed to house favorite sneakers. Each compartment even featured a transparent, monogrammed window for easy admiration.

Louis Vuitton has also catered to smaller-scale designs, such as a set of miniature trunks created in 1936. These exquisite creations were not intended for Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret of England but were made for their dolls, France and Marianne. The dolls' ambassadorial wardrobe included miniature outfits and accessories by renowned brands like Lanvin, Cartier, and Hermès.

While some trunks are filled with whimsical and entertaining objects, others open to reveal magnificent masterpieces. In 1924, Louis Vuitton crafted a trunk for French art dealer René Gimpel, allowing him to transport important paintings to clients worldwide. In 2018, the tradition continued when Louis Vuitton designed a trunk to safely convey Johannes Vermeer's precious artwork, 'The Milkmaid,' from the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam to an exhibition at the Ueno Royal Museum in Tokyo. The trunk's interior, adorned in yellow, mirrored the dominant colors found in the masterpiece.

Louis Vuitton's trunks were not only commissioned but also gifted to loyal clients for several decades, from 1910 to the early 1980s. Instead of a typical bouquet of flowers, Georges and Gaston-Louis Vuitton would send their esteemed clients a planter trunk covered in monogram canvas. The interior of the trunk was protected from water and humidity by a zinc tub. After the flowers had faded, the fortunate recipients could repurpose the trunk to store jewelry or use it as a cigarette case.

Knows no Bounds

Louis Vuitton's dedication to bespoke trunks knows no bounds. The brand's Special-Order workshop is capable of creating trunks tailored to the storage and transportation of virtually any object. Trunks have been meticulously designed for watercolor paints, billiard cues, record collections, birthday cakes, tea sets, Christmas decorations, and even a custom trunk exclusively made to house a collection of exactly 1,000 cigars. One avid collector even commissioned a trunk solely dedicated to storing his children's baby teeth.

If you can imagine it, Louis Vuitton can transform it into a trunk. They have taken the concept to the extreme by introducing the Party Trunk, a complete home bar and entertainment center. This remarkable trunk includes a plated silver ice bucket and a Monogram disco ball. With space for 30 bottles and a smoke machine, it is far from an ordinary house party setup.

For those curious about the functionality of Louis Vuitton's signature trunks in modern times, the brand's ongoing exhibition, "200 Trunks, 200 Visionaries," commemorating the bicentenary birthday of the founder, provides a resounding answer. The exhibition, which has traveled to various locations, including Asnières-sur-Seine in France, Marina Bay in Singapore, Los Angeles, and New York, showcases physical and digital trunks that visitors can see, experience, and even listen to. These trunks range from Marc Jacobs' Stephen Sprouse graffiti trunk, paying homage to the former creative director's iconic bags, to a strap-bound trunk designed by architect Peter Marino, challenging the escapology skills of Houdini himself. The exhibition even features a jukebox trunk by British DJ and producer Benji B, boasting an impressive collection of 200 tracks. With Louis Vuitton trunks, the treasures they hold are always an enchanting surprise.