Louis Vuitton exhibition: trunks for the memories

Louis Vuitton is the subject of a new exhibition, “Volez, Voguez, Voyagez – Louis Vuitton,” at the Grand Palais in Paris that looks at 160 years of its founder and the art of travelling .

“The story of Louis Vuitton is defined by the history of the means of travel, such as the evolution of trains, boats, planes and cars,” says Olivier Saillard, Galliera’s museum director and curator of the exhibition. “But what is striking is that these means of travel became a true reflection of an art of living under Louis Vuitton’s influence.”

Saillard is known infusing exhibitions with poetry and story telling, and as such “Volez, Voguez, Voyagez” (Fly, Sail, Travel) is more than just another fashion-meets-art exhibition – it’s above all a tribute to the incredible life story of a man, an homage to his journey and heritage.

A man who had a life-long passion for trunk making, Louis Vuitton left his native village in the Jura mountains of eastern France in 1835 at the age of 14 on a two-year journey by foot, ending in Paris.

The objects in the exhibition: flat trunks, cabin trunks, car trunks, restrictive trunks, new and archived collection pieces, bags and accessories, travel, beauty, grooming and writing utensils, are given a narrative that takes the viewer on a journey from Louis Vuitton’s beginnings to the present and future of the house.