A private hillside residence houses the maison’s Crafting Dreams collection of handmade rarities and bespoke designs
Words by ELIZABETH VARNELL
Photography by BRAD DICKSON
In the hills above the Bel Air Country Club, Louis Vuitton has installed its most treasured designs, one-of-a-kind creations, and special collaborations inside an expansive private residence. The Crafting Dreams collection, which comprises treasured items from the maison’s meticulous métiers, can be viewed by private appointment before some Objets Nomades furniture pieces and industrial designer Marc Newson’s modular Cabinet of Curiosities trunk travel back overseas to debut at Milan Design Week.
Set throughout rooms transformed into salons dedicated to particular themes are singular offerings displaying the heritage and craftsmanship pioneered by the storied luggage maker, from watches to diamond-encrusted fine jewelry, exotic leather goods, and a host of sporting items meant for elevated diversions like pickleball, mah-jongg, pool, ping-pong, and all manner of lawn games. Placed throughout are hard-sided trunks devoted to specific themes, from afternoon tea to champagne service to golf to an Infinity Party Trunk iteration awash in Yayoi Kusama’s uplifting plethora of dots.
Exotic Capucine handbags, colored keepalls, and a hard-sided Malle Maison Vendôme bag in the shape of the Place Vendôme store in Paris that appeared on the Fall/Winter 2023 runway alongside the work of women’s creative director Nicolas Ghesquière are also on hand. The house mascot, Vivienne, even makes an appearance alongside the newly launched baby collection for infants.
For the truly inspired, a hard-sided trunk designer is also available to create bespoke works to house particularly treasured objects. Gowns worn by Jennifer Connelly, Cynthia Erivo, Ana de Armas, Gemma Chan, Sophie Turner, and Phoebe Dynevor are on display, as is a shoe exhibition first launched in Milan titled White Canvas: LV Trainer in Residence, which includes three limited edition takes on the LV Trainer created by artist Lady Pink, who got her start in graffiti; Lee Quiñones of New York’s subway art movement; and the Estate of late visual artist and musician Rammellzee. All the immersive spaces showcase the intricate savoir faire and infinite creativity of artisans steeped equally in historic craft and boundary-pushing innovation.
May 8, 2023.
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