Louis Vuitton debuts a stunning handbag collection made in collaboration with legendary architect Frank Gehry at this year’s Art Basel Miami Beach. Presented with the collection are Gehry’s other works created for the Maison in their longstanding partnership.
The Louis Vuitton x Frank Gehry limited-edition handbag collection is on display in the brand’s architectural booth at Art Basel Miami Beach. The collection is based around three key themes in Gehry’s career — Architecture and Form, Material Exploration, and Animals — and features designs inspired by the iconic Capucine silhouette.
The handbags
Each handbag is meticulously crafted to show off Gehry’s artistry while still respecting Louis Vuitton’s original vision. The Capucines MM Floating Fish features a leather marquetry based on the piscine lamps at the Fondation Louis Vuitton. The texture of the Capucines MM Concrete Pockets mimics that of Gehry’s constructions and is achieved through a 3D cement-effect screen printing. Glass-like resin petals adorn the Capucines Mini Blossom with the hammered LV logo — a subtle nod to Gehry’s other works for Louis Vuitton.
The Twisted Box, which Gehry first created for Celebrating Monogram in honour of Louis Vuitton’s 160th anniversary, is also included in the collection and revisited in two new versions. You can see the original cowhide exterior as well as the new slick black and statement silver in the Louis Vuitton booth. Lastly, the Bear With Us clutch is inspired by Gehry’s 2014 sculpture of the same name and is a masterpiece of metalworking. It is finished with a specially designed removable metal chain and lined with lambskin leather.
Louis Vuitton’s Booth
The booth showcases Gehry’s design style and is decorated with wood and cardboard models central to the architect’s design process. The outside is enveloped with five sail-like mesh structures, alluding to the 2014 window displays Gehry created for Louis Vuitton. Inside, the experience is organised into four dear themes to Gehry — Architecture and Form, Material Exploration, Animals, and his Twisted Box for Celebrating Monogram.
Alongside the handbag collection, other works by Gehry for Louis Vuitton are laid out in the booth. His sculpture-trunk “A Tea Party For Louis” was originally made for 200 Trunks, 200 Visionaries to celebrate the Maison’s 200th anniversary. Featuring eight whimsical figures inspired by Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, each one resembles an imaginary Gehry building enjoying a tea party for the brand’s founder.
Gehry’s Les Extraits perfume bottles with their unique handcrafted stoppers are exhibited together with the Flaconnier Les Extraits designed to carry them. Sketches and preparatory drawings, as well as maquettes exploring his design for the Fondation Louis Vuitton, are put on view for visitors to see his inspiration and process along with videos of his previous collaborations and a portrait of the architect by French artist Jean-Philippe Delhomme.
The booth is open for public viewing on December 8–10 in the West Lobby of the Miami Beach Convention Center.
(Feature and Main Images: Louis Vuitton)
This article was first published in Lifestyle Asia Kuala Lumpur.
