TORONTO: The stunning exhibit of Maison Louis Vuitton has taken the master creator’s designs globally from Singapore to Dubai, Osaka to Los Angeles, Madrid to Melbourne and Berlin to Bangkok to name a few cities.
The Toronto stop commemorates Louis Vuitton’s 35th anniversary in the city – the first Maison of Louis Vuitton opened in 1984 on Bloor Street. Louis Vuitton’s designs have withstood the passage of time and has adapted beautifully to the modern needs of high society.
The exhibit showcases the history of luxury and the evolution of travel by rail, steam ships, motor cars and airplanes from the late 1800s to 2018. The curators and the city picked a perfect spot at Union Station for the grand display and the free exhibition runs until end of September
The designer house established in 1854 by Louis Vuitton in Paris took custom orders and handmade the exquisite pieces and delivered them to the customers. The time capsule brings back from the archives the famous flat trunks (as opposed to the rounded bulky metal trunks of the time) which were designed for practicality and introduced the elegant and inimitable grey Trianon canvas in 1858.
This marked the beginning of Louis Vuitton’s journey to innovation and displayed his uncanny ability to meet the challenges presented by evolving modes of transportation and find elegant, practical and creative solutions in the form of personal baggage. He made his mark with all kinds of travel baggage from special pieces for rail travel to the flat trunks to the car trunks in 1897 and later the roof trunks for cars. When transoceanic travel began with the invention of steam ships, Louis Vuitton had the perfect solution in the creation of the iconic Steamer bag. And then soon afterward, the Cabin trunk followed which could fit beneath the bunks in the ships.
He also created a unique Wardrobe trunk which could carry the steamer trunk inside. Valets to the high society travellers found this a delight to pack and unpack as every article had its place and could neatly fit in. With the invention of air travel, the famous Aéro trunks made an appearance and the light weight Aviette which was elegant yet functional and robust enough to take the knocks of travel. A sample of all these trunks can be seen displayed from the archives of Louis Vuitton. All Louis Vuitton bags are crafted with the finest materials be it leather or canvas and are hand finished for perfection.
On display are also smaller masterpieces like a leather picnic bag, camera bags, record player cases in leather, a custom guitar case and many more. The pièce de résistance is Sharon Stone’s bespoke vanity and make up case with her monogram. The show stopper is a bag designed (2014) by none other than Toronto architect, Frank Gehry, who pushed the limits of line design with his signature twists and turns.
Visitors are also treated to a fantastic audio visual which showcases the designs of Maison Louis Vuitton from 1800s to 2018.For those who dare, you can also help hand stitch a purse!
A not-to-be-missed exhibition for lovers of fashion and collectors of luxury bags!
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