24 June 2015

That there are crossovers between the worlds of fashion and design is certainly nothing new. From Armani to Versace and Hermès, many fashion houses have brought out their own collections of furniture, feeling the need to offer their clientele a total lifestyle. Louis Vuitton is moving in the same direction, drawing on the history of the brand, which has travel in its most sophisticated form in its genes, a nomadism that is an expression of an elegant and refined lifestyle. A hundred and sixty years have passed since the invention, by a very young Louis Vuitton, of the trunk that came to represent the modern conception of temporary inhabitation: easy to transport, with a flat lid, a structure of poplar wood onto which was glued a sheet of completely waterproof gray canvas, corners reinforced with metal and, inside, shelves and compartments in which to place clothes and other articles. The art of travel is still the leitmotiv of LV’s research, even in the objects that the company has commissioned from designers of international fame that have enriched the collection of Objets Nomades, currently made up of 16 pieces—including accessories made of precious materials that are proposed as one-off pieces or experimental prototypes. Nine designers have worked on the project this year: Maarten Baas, Fernando & Humberto Campana, Patricia Urquiola, Damien Langlois-Meurinne, Atelier Oï, Nendo, Gwenaël Nicolas, Barber & Osgerby and Raw Edges. All the objects in the collection are inspired by Louis Vuitton’s “special orders” and its most iconic products: from Atelier Oï’s hammock to Nicolas’s lamp, from Baas’s folding chair to the Campana brothers’ mysterious and colorful Maracatu. And they can be ordered from Louis Vuitton boutiques, after the limited editions presented in Milan at the time of the most recent Salone del Mobile, in the picturesque setting of Palazzo Bocconi, have all sold out.

Ernest Bed, design di/by Gwenael Nicolas.

Swing Chair, design di/by Patricia Urquiola.

Stool, design di/by Patricia Urquiola.

Concertina Chair e/and Concertina Table, design di/by Raw Edges. Bell Lamp, design di/by Barber&Osgerby.

Lamp, design di/by Nendo.

Maracatu, design di/by Campana Brothers.

Bell Lamp, design di/by Barber&Osgerby.