The
doors of the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris open to the public toady for the
Louis Vuitton Marc Jacobs exhibition that explores the French fashion house’s
journey from the epitome of utility during the industrial age of travel in the
mid-nineteenth century to the status symbol of luxury, which the brand is
celebrated for today. Monsieur Louis Vuitton reacted to the needs of an era by
starting his business as a packer in 1854, producing lightweight, water-resistant
trunks that symbolized the cultural motions of high society and the birth of a
brand. The infamous 'LV' monogram was created in 1896 and travelled around the
world wherever its owners went.
That very monogram continues to be produced
today and has appropriated even greater socio-symbolic meaning under Marc Jacobs
as the brand’s Creative Director since 1997. The exhibition draws parallels
between the two men and ultimately looks at the marketing strategies that the house of Louis Vuitton has pioneered for over a century. The fashion pack will
swoon over cuts and cloth but Jacobs’ collaborations with international
contemporary artists will have the art crowd hooked on works by Takashi
Murakami, Richard Prince, Stephen Sprouse and Yayoi Kusama to name a few, who have
injected another layer on top of the iconic monogram: from illustrations and
graffiti, to text and dots. Fashion’s relationship with popular culture has no
doubt been a reaction to the once-conceptual direction Jacobs introduced to his
well-travelled, culture-rich customers that is now commonplace in the luxury
sector. The brand’s most recent collaborator is filmmaker Christian Bosrtlap
who has been commissioned by online luxury lifestyle platform NOWNESS to create a short that will be screened at the exhibitIon, depicting this very idea of travel through the luxury brand’s
heritage and reinvention of its iconic style throughout the centuries that is uniquely la marque
Louis Vuitton.
.
.
Louis Vuitton Marc Jacobs opens today at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs and runs to 16th Septemebr 2012 - click here to view Borstlap’s short, Louis Vuitton I in full.
Film stills courtesy of NOWNESS
