Would you ever?

Louis Vuitton are releasing this garbage bag inspired handbag....


Retailing at $2000 its slightly above the price of your average set of 30 garbage bags. However the design comes in dark brown and grey, with a changeable leather strap. The immediate connection to the "Derelicte" collection of Zoolander really puts this in to context with one blogger commenting "If someone is willing to buy what is an obvious anti-capitalist statement, then let'em."

Words by Gabriella Singh

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Introducing Sir Marc Jacobs

Marc Jacobs gets a nod from the French government.

French Culture Minister Frederic Mitterand will acknowledge Marc Jacobs impact on the french fashion industry when he is decorated as a Chevalier des Artes et des Lettres (Knight of Order of Arts and Letters).

Jacobs is, of course, known for his position at the helm of Louis Vuitton as Creative Director, as well as for his own brand Marc Jacobs and the diffusion line Marc by Marc.

The ceremony, which is taking place during Mens Paris Fashion Week, will also honour Nathalie Rykiel, who is President and Creative Director of her mother Sonia Rykiel's label.

Words by Gabriella Singh

Read full article: Introducing Sir Marc Jacobs.

Madonna moves aside for Louis Vuitton's newest faces

Move over Madonna, model minxes Daisy Lowe and Lara Stone have replaced the queen of reinvention as the newest faces of Louis Vuitton.

Amidst confused speculation Louis Vuitton confirmed Stone will star in their Spring/Summer 2010 campaign, whilst Lowe will be featured in some swoon-able beachwear for LV's ready-to-wear beachwear range.
With a slew of experience and a heady collection of admirers, LV's choice comes as no surprise.

On being chosen Daisy's agent told press, " Daisy attended the Louis Vuitton show in Paris and wears their clothes so she's thrilled about being booked for this job. It's a fantastic brand for her to be working for and she's pleased to be flying the British flag for such a worldwide label."

Undoubtedly the pair will be fruitful for LV, with eager rumours already surrounding the shoot which we hear begins shortly on location in Miami.

Words by Tess Bertram-Jones

Read full article: Madonna moves aside for Louis Vuitton's newest faces.

Madonna for Marc Jacobs

Madonna has scored an encore with pal Marc Jacobs, working together on their second collaboration for Louis Vuitton’s spring campaign.

The first campaign drew mixed reviews, with Jacobs quick to defend; adamant he wanted the shoot to have a completely different feel.
Vuitton’s communication director, Antoine Arnault suggested Madonna’s impact on the label was measurably significant: “Everything she was wearing in the first campaign was sold within a few months. People came into the store saying, ‘I want the Madonna bag, the Madonna shoes.’ ”

Photographer Steven Meisel also returns to shoot the campaign, which uses solarization to create a finish that “gives it something very graphic, more edgy,” Meisel describes.

The shoot will feature a plethora of runway looks and leather goods, many in Louis Vuitton's signature monogram print.
Only a few images have been released, revealing a color dripped Madonna donning the infamous bunny-ear head-dress. Keep an eye out for more as they look like a technicolor dream.

Words by Tess Bertram-Jones

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Louis Vuitton opens in Westfield Bondi Junction

Luxury fashion house Louis Vuitton is to open a store in Sydney’s Bondi Junction. The new store will be both the newest in Louis Vuitton’s Australian network and the first time the brand will be present in a suburban shopping centre in the Oceanic region.

“To date our retail presence in Australia has concentrated on city centre locations. The move to Bondi is an exciting new direction for Louis Vuitton in Australia and consistent with the company’s global strategy,” says Philip Corne, Chief Executive Officer of Louis Vuitton Oceania.

Designed by the Louis Vuitton projects team in Paris, the store will be an architectural treat with features like a full glass façade imprinted with the iconic Damier pattern, designed to compliment the light. A stone floor entrance harks back to Louis Vuitton’s European history, having been established in 1854, yet is decidedly modern within the context of a shopping mall.

The interior is constructed so as to create an ambient and intimate environment, with signature timber flooring, hand-tufted woolen carpets and a ceiling made up of interlocking floating planes.

The Bondi Junction store will be a distillation of the craftsmanship and immaculate attention to detail that the Louis Vuitton brand has built the reputation of its products on.
Story by Ingrid Kesa

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Kanye West’s controversial Louis Vuitton campaign

Rapper Kanye West has created a stir with his new risqué campaign for his Louis Vuitton sneaker line. West, who has referred to himself as “the Louis Vuitton don” in his songs, is fully clothed in the advertisements, while his model girlfriend Amber Rose is lying naked in his lap.

West exclusively showed his first pair of shoes – red leather and suede calfskin sneakers embossed with the LV monogram - during Louis Vuitton’s menswear show at Paris Fashion Week. The sneakers will be released for sale this June, but fans of the ‘Gold Digger’ singer are outraged by their price, which start at US$800.

Some have speculated that the advertisements are an attempt to rebuff rumours about West’s sexuality (he recently appeared in a South Park episode in which he was called a “gay fish.) Kanye broke off his engagement with stylist Alexis Phifer last year and Rose and West have been dating for a few months.
Story by Ingrid Kesa

Read full article: Kanye West’s controversial Louis Vuitton campaign.

Kanye West: "Louis Vuitton Don" and now designer

Louis Vuitton has just announced yet another fashion collaboration with none other than ten time Grammy award winning Kanye West. The self-dubbed “Louis Vuitton don” is working with the fashion house to create a limited edition collection of sneakers available in Louis Vuitton stores from June this year.

Yves Carcelle, CEO of Louis Vuitton comments: “We are delighted that Kanye West accepted our invitation to extend his considerable creative talents from music to design. He has always been a big friend of Louis Vuitton, with a keen sense of personal style, and this impressive design debut fulfils an ambition he has held for some time.

This collaboration rolls off the back of a score of celebrity partnerships and endorsements, the last being Madonna: front woman of the 2009 Spring/Summer advertising campaign.

Read full article: Kanye West: "Louis Vuitton Don" and now designer.

Louis Vuitton Skateboards

New York graffiti artist Stephen Sprouse is collaborating yet again with Louis Vuitton to release a range of limited edition skateboards and T-shirts.

The range of 3 skateboards and 250 T-shirts are available only from the Louis Vuitton NY Soho store and retail for US $8,250 and $250 respectively.
Although this may appear like yet another PR stunt in the name of fashion (what real skater would feel the need to own one of these boards?) but proceeds from sales will go to a worthy cause: Free Arts NYC.

The organisation provides children in need with a unique combination of educational arts and mentoring programs. Louis Vuitton will also contribute a substantial sum for the Stephen Sprouse Memorial Scholarship Fund at the National Academy for Design.

As thevine.com.au reports: Sprouse, who passed away in 2004, was a fashion designer and artist who had success with day-glo and fluoro the first time around, back in the eighties. He collaborated with Keith Haring, worked out of Andy Warhol's Factory space, opened a massive store on Wooster and dressed Debbie Harry.

www.freeartsnyc.org

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Madonna for Louis Vuitton

Iconic pop queen Madonna is to star in the new Spring/Summer 2009 Louis Vuitton Advertising campaign. Renowned photographer and long time creative co-conspirator of Madonna’s: Steven Meisel shot the campaign, his first ever for the brand.

Staged in a sepia-toned Parisian café, the campaign beautifully blends 1940’s Parisian bourgeois with the African tribal references in the chunky beaded accessories and fringed heels.

“I wanted the campaign to be very bold, very sensual and very atmospheric. To carry off all these references and all this sophistication, we needed the ultimate performer – and for me – that is Madonna” says Marc Jacobs.

The Louis Vuitton Spring/Summer advertising campaign will launch in February 2009. The corresponding image shows Madonna with the Kalahari bags in Monogram canvas and Monogram-embossed leather.

Read full article: Madonna for Louis Vuitton.