Collecting Louis Vuitton Luxury Luggage by Paul Pluta - HTML preview

Luxury Luggage

“It is very distinctive, it is very stylish – it is very Louis Vuitton… wherever you go in the world you will see people carrying the distinctive Louis Vuitton brand…whether it is a little bag or a huge suitcase. It talks of distinction and taste” – Cherie Blair at the London Louis Vuitton New Bond Street Maison Opening.

“I think it is an amazing brand, I love that it has got such a heritage and it has been around for such a long time. I particularly like their luggage and all the trunks” - Alexa Chung at the London Louis Vuitton New Bond Street Maison Opening.

Nothing says class more than quality luxury luggage. Louis Vuitton famously ran the advertising by-line “show me your luggage, and I’ll tell you who you are.” In this modern age of mass production there are only two brands which tick the box in my book. Those brands are Louis Vuitton and Goyard. Both brands are French and were founded at approximately the same time (1854 for Louis Vuitton and 1853 for Goyard).

The best pieces to own are the hard-sided trunks and suitcases. These items are made the old fashion way – by skilled artisans much the same way as originally intended. Trunks are the large boxes used for sea voyages and months away from home. Trunks today are mainly for ornamental purposes. Hard-sided suitcases are the most useful items to have. They can be used for ornamental purposes but still have a use for modern travel. Famous fans of hard-sided suitcases include Joan Collins, Madonna and Sir Elton John. Recently on eBay three of Sir Elton John’s Louis Vuitton hard case suitcases were offered for auction. It is fascinating that these are the best quality suitcases in the world and they are obtainable (yet still very expensive).

Quality luggage is an heirloom that will last a lifetime and will always bring pleasure in its usage. Care should be taken on commercial flights as many expensive suitcases have been deliberately damaged by jealous workers. Recently Louis Vuitton has offered there hard-sided suitcases with a strong black cover. This adds a layer of protection whilst also provided a degree of discretion.

Louis Vuitton is probably the most famous maker of beautiful luggage in the world. Classic suitcases from Louis Vuitton include the Alzer, Bisten, Cotteville and Braken. Louis Vuitton also has a range of other hard-sided items to go together with the suitcases including the President Classeur briefcase, Boite Pharmacie cosmetic case and Boite Bijoux Jewellery case. Louis Vuitton offers these products in a range of colors/patterns including Monogram, Damier, Epi and Taiga.

The Monogram range is probably the most recognizable line whilst Epi and Taiga lines provide a degree of discretion. I personally have a mix match of colors/patterns to match my mood.

Louis Vuitton often releases special edition pieces when launching a new color or style. This occurred when Louis Vuitton released the Damier Graphite range for men. Louis Vuitton released a President Classeur briefcase in this new style. These pieces are often only available for a short time. If you are sufficiently well-heeled this is a collection that surely cannot be bad.

Louis Vuitton also releases special edition pieces for its flagship store – the Champs-Élysées store. My Taiga green Alzer was such an item that was placed in this store for a special customer to purchase. Hard-sided items are also available on the special order program. Prices for special order are significantly higher than standard prices.

When a new color or style is released, each store will get a few hardseeded items in this new variant. These special release hard-sided items have become very desirable with the rich and jet set. Due to the uniqueness of having a beautiful famous Louis Vuitton model in a rare style.

Louis Vuitton is also at the cutting edge of design. The Le Challenge series was released in 1987 to coincide with Louis Vuitton’s sponsorship of the America’s cup yacht race. The Le Challenge series was designed with Australia in mind. The texture of the range is supposed to resemble Aboriginal traditional art.

The Le Challenge series has dated by today’s standards. I personally tried for ten years to track down one of these hard-sided suitcases. The suitcase is certainly an acquired taste but a beautiful addition to a Louis Vuitton hard-sided suitcase collection.

Some special order combinations have become so popular that they have become permanent fixtures. The Damier Alma is such a bag that was made a catalogue item after proving popular in the Japanese market.