Kim Jones of Louis Vuitton: Interview

I am still unable to fathom the meteoric rise of Kim Jones, but I'm beginning to work out that this is probably more down to a question of taste than anything else.

Because I have yet to find anything he has designed or been connected with that has engendered me with any kind of enthusiasm. His signature line for Umbro was truly awful, although it was always going to be difficult polishing a turd so he can be forgiven for that and at least it got his name known on a few council estates.

Then there was Dunhill. That label with so much promise, such heritage, an infinite number of motoring-inspired possibilities, of which Mr Jones utilised precisely none, while managing to give a stiff English brand a good helping of starch when all it has ever needed is a bit of loosening up.

Now he is at Louis Vuitton. This is to me a match made in heaven seeing as LV is a brand favoured by perma-tanned middle-aged owners of luxury yachts who wouldn't know style if it headbutted them on the bridge of the nose.

I write this without watching the interview, after which I might totally 'get' Kim Jones. I doubt it, but I reserve the right to change my mind.

Via Slamxhype

Resurrected: the archives

Going through some of my drawers has been like unearthing ancient artifacts - a timeline of my tastes through the medium of accessories, and a reminder that Japan isn't the be all and end all for clothes even if I might sometimes think so.

Take my scarf collection. Not something I've really had the occasion to revive so far this year, but in winters past the addition of a silk scarf was de riguer in terms of outfit accessorisation.

You will note my first silk scarf purchase to the left of the picture, a gold and olive patterned Gucci affair of considerable length.  Below that is a McQueen thing which was almost a cross between a scarf and a tie.

To the north of the Gucci is a Louis Vuitton striped scarf which is actually the only one which has had an outing this season. Still looks good under a sweat.

Peaking out below the hat to the right is silk scarf by William Hunt which never really got a lot of wear but is on the verge of being put in for cycling.

Talking about the hat, that's from Dunhill. Bound to be seeing the light of day as the winter draws in, with its floppy lug protectors. Then there's the Gucci belt, always a faithful companion for keeping the strides in position.

Louis Vuitton, 100 Legendary Trunks: left luggage

There was a time when no traveller would have been without a good trunk in which to transport his valuables to some far flung corner of the globe. Back in those days Louis Vuitton was a luggage maker among thousands.

Everyone had a trunk. Even my dear old great gran. Hers is now located in my shed, stuffed with paint pots.

Who would have realised, back in the days before the Titanic when steaming across the Atlantic for two weeks was considered an acceptable mode of transport, that the trunk as a viable piece of tourist luggage would have sunk without trace too?

These days it's all about the wheelie bag, unless you are of a particularly flamboyant bent possessing of a hefty holiday wardrobe.

The trunk has survived as a living room coffee table cum cushion storage device, and Louis Vuitton, far from being some generic garlic-whiffing luggage maker, has become something of a status symbol.

To own a Louis Vuitton trunk these days would either mean you are super-rich, label obsessed or have a rather style obsessed grandma who has just left it to you in her will.

With any luck it will be battered from many decades traversing the globe.

For those of us without such illustrious inheritance, Louis Vuitton has released 100 Legendary Trunks, a coffee table book (naturally) containing details of the trunks the company has manufactured for some of its more notable customers, including Ernest Hemmingway, Karl Lagerfeld and Sharon Stone.

Beats a wheelie bag any day.

NB: The picture above is an LV trunk in Tommy Hilfiger's gaff and the pic below is a shot of someone called Rinne Allen's living room. Click the pictures to go to the original sites the pictures come from.

100 Malles de Légende| Louis Vuitton from de jeunes gens modernes on Vimeo.

Louis Vuitton: Investment pieces

I rarely find anything I want in Louis Vuitton. In fact I have only ever found two things I've ever wanted from them.

They are a pair of sunglasses I bought in New York in 2005 and a scarf I found in Florence in 2007.

Each of these have been in constant use ever since I got them.

The shades, from the Louis Vuitton Cup range, are still in production and have to be the finest sports sunglasses I have bought. They are light, indestructible and crystal clear. And they get quite a severe battering with all the running and cycling.

The scarf is just timeless. The minute I clapped my eyes on it I knew there wasn't a thing it wouldn't go with.

I have worn it to weddings, to the pub, on nippy days and sunny days, and it's there in the holdall whenever I go away.

These pieces sum up what clothes should be about. They should become a part of you, soak up your experiences so that whenever you put them back on you unlock your life.

They are a bank, a memory stick, a key to the memories.

And that is why Louis Vuitton has become the phenomenon it is. To purchase something by them is not to purchase a garment or a fashion item. It is to obtain a vessel for future memories. That makes it priceless.

But I still think they make gay t-shirts.

Loius Vuitton Maison: Do it for the Murakami

I went into a Louis Vuitton store in Barcelona, as you do. Negotiated past a few tourists buying handbags, did a lap of the menswear section, noted that it was more euro-bling than ever, and legged it.

I can't say that experience left me gagging for the opening of the Louis Vuitton Maison in New Bond Street, but I might poke my head in all the same, just so I can get a closer look at that Murakami sculpture.

Beats a pair of dodgy monogrammed trainers for a reason to visit all day long.

More images of the star-studded opening night over at EMM.

Louis Vuitton: Journey of a man's wardrobe

I love this image - this is the sort of thing they ought to be making a scarf out of rather than those smily flowers that Murakami has just come up with. Something for the fellas.

This actually has something to do with a project between Louis Vuitton and The Selby, called Journey of a Man's wardrobe, with the journey, having left Paris, moving on to Shanghai and Tokyo.

Maybe it's taking the route of manufacture backwards. Let's hope it doesn't end up in China, or Taiwan. That wouldn't do LV much good at all.

Loving the map though.

View the project here

Murakami's scarf is below

Louis Vuitton AW 2010 luggage

Nope, you're not looking at the changing room at Chelsea FC, or a Chinese market stall - this is the latest line of blokes' bags from Louis Vuitton.

You've got to give them their due, Louis Vuitton really do know how to reinvent the wheel. But that's what's made the brand what it is today.

And also why you'll be virtually guaranteed that no matter what you put in it, the bag will still have cost you more than the contents. Unless you're packing conflict diamonds. Or gold bullion.

Via Slamxhype

Andre sinks the pink

How many people have wanted to do this to the signage at Louis Vuitton? It's been left up to French graffiti artist Andre, or Mr A as he is known in the art circles, to fulfill a dream for the rest of us.

To be fair, he might have committed the act, but Louis Vuitton has to take part of the blame. For a start they put the arty party on for him, supplied the alcohol, then let him loose with the spray can.

A decision one fellow female partygoer was most likely regretting when Andre carried on his artwork along her inside leg. Obviously that kind of thing is all in a day's hedonism, but she didn't seem too pleased to have her crotch sprayed lurid pink.

Those knickers will be on Ebay in a few days.

Andre is exhibiting his paintings at Collette in Paris from February 1. The show is called drawings. That's one below.

Via slamxhype

View the party video here

Video via Seek and suggest

Louis Vuitton Casino Trunk: Vulgarity in a box

The success of Louis Vuitton has always baffled me. This is a brand that increased its prices by 15 per cent in the middle of a recession, and never holds a sale. But still it retains a devoted and blinkered fan base.

Not that I'm averse to the odd LV trinket - I own a particularly dandy silk scarf in a rather fetching navy and silver stripe, with a discreet logo tucked into the corner - it's just that I find some of its products a little bit too ostentatious, mainly the Monogram series.

One area in which you can almost get away with LV's monogram goods is with its custom made luggage. Overlooking the fact that this pattern allows any thieving luggage handler to spot your bags at 50 paces, LV's custom-made luggage is heaped in enough history to outweigh any criticism on the style front, the French company having handbuilt pieces for explorers and adventurers since 1854.

I would happily hang my clothes in an up-ended battered old trunk if I could but lay my hands on one at a reasonable price.

This Casino Trunk, however, stomps all over any respectability surrounding LV luggage. This brand has unwittingly (perhaps) created a pastiche of itself.

Vulgar, flash, pointless, and it will ultimately make you poor. Could one item ever say as much about Louis Vuitton today?

Via Highsnobiety