Two hundred years to the day of Louis Vuitton’s birth, starting August 4, the Maison unveils celebratory windows that showcase creations from 200 talents, special friends and visionaries.
Behind the Maison, there has always been the man, Louis Vuitton. Born on August 4, 1821, two hundred years later, this bicentennial birthday is celebrated globally with a series of creative initiatives that highlight how the visionary spirit of Louis lives on with “Louis 200”.
Over the next few months, Louis 200 will evoke the life and legacy of Louis – adventurer, entrepreneur, designer, innovator– across various media and featuring collaborators from around the world. There is a video game with embedded NFTs, store windows that showcase the iconic trunk as a vessel reimagined by 200 exceptional contributors, a large-scale triptych of Louis painted by Alex Katz, a fictionalized novel by French writer Caroline Bongrand about the life and intentions of Louis, published by Gallimard and available in French and English from October, as well as “Looking for Louis”, an unprecedented documentary that retraces the story of the young pioneer. Broadcast on Apple TV’s Explore channel from December, The Documentary will shed light on Louis Vuitton, from his humble beginning to his enduring legacy.
Beyond celebration, Louis 200 transcends the typical tribute. It is the transmission of Louis’ journey as a public-facing, collective experience; a catalyst for endless inspiration. It also creates a bridge between Louis, the pioneering trunk maker and packer, and all the visionaries today who thrive towards the horizon of their own life’s work. Presented without any corresponding product launches, these activations become pure expressions of creativity, illumination and generation. Instead of a typical exhibition, these alternate, entertaining formats invite the Louis Vuitton audience and community to explore the Maison’s history in a contemporary context.
Around the world, Louis 200 will play out as a bold and awe-inspiring homage to the man who was, above all, an entrepreneur, an innovator and a dreamer. A trunk – the most emblematic object from Louis Vuitton – is transformed into a vessel, a building block, a metaphorical blank canvas for collective imagination and individual artistic expression. The Louis Vuitton windows – historically, the Maison’s stage to seduce passersby with its craftsmanship – will display the desires, fears and dreams of our time.
Starting August 4 2021, Louis: The Game can be downloaded through the App Store and Google Play for Android systems. Meanwhile, Louis 200, the celebratory windows that will be unveiled across the entire store network – reflect how 200 talents across varying backgrounds and disciplines have individually interpreted Louis, a man whose name is synonymous with unparalleled quality and savoir-faire. Both these initial activations, the novel and documentary will be followed by the others through the end of 2021.
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