Louis Vuitton finds itself the subject of another Parisian exhibition after the one at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs three years ago, which marked the 15th anniversary of the house’s collaboration with its first ready-to-wear designer, Marc Jacobs. A new show, opening at the Grand Palais next month, reveals the ascension of the house from modest beginnings to future triumph.
Borrowed from a vintage advertising poster for Vuitton luggage dating back to 1965, the exhibition title Volez! Voguez! Voyagez! (Fly! Sail! Travel!) sets the tone for an ambitious endeavor that covers the road traveled by the leather goods maker from its origins in 1854 to the present day, taking visitors through 160 years of creation punctuated by both historic pieces and some of the iconic designs that grace today’s fashion runways.
“Along its unique trajectory, the Maison Vuitton turned travel into a recurring motif not just in fashion but in everyday life,” wroteOlivier Saillard, curator of the show, in an introduction to the show’s catalogue. “The timelessness of Vuitton’s singular oeuvre is shown by the contemporary creations that dialogue with the noble, historic shapes that originally inspired them.”
The show will explore the history of the “malletier” or luggage maker in chronological fashion, focusing on the theme of the “voyage” with a vast array of rare pieces, some on loan from the Musée Galliéra.
Along the way, it will also examine the personality of the Maison’s founding members and of those who have made the house the global luxury giant that it is today. “The success of the luggage maker rests on its sense of that grand French chic that finds beauty in function,” Saillard wrote. “Vuitton achieved a form of harmony between the container and its content, with a beautiful and noble packaging that was both discrete and distinctive.”
Spread across nine halls on the upper floors of the Grand Palais known as the Salons d’Honneur, the exhibition will open with an antique trunk, circa 1906, the design of which was innovative for its time and foreshadowed the emblematic codes of the Maison. From there, the range and variety of Vuitton’s techniques will be showcased with a vast selection of the house’s refined canvases, signature locks, writing instruments and eccentric celebrity luggage known as the “superstar trunks.”
The show will culminate with a section dedicated to craftsmanship. “Visitors will surely be inclined to fly, sail, and travel after seeing the show, or they may just allow themselves to dream,” Saillard said
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