See How Peter Marino, Frank Gehry, and 198 Other Creatives Reimagined Louis Vuitton’s Iconic Trunk

Since 1854, fashionable travelers have hauled Louis Vuitton’s flat-topped trunks to every corner of the globe. Though the iconic Damier-checkered luggage is more likely to feature as aliving room conversation piecethan a bag these days, a significant collection of Louis Vuitton trunks has just arrived in America.

Last week, Louis Vuitton’s200 Trunks 200 Visionariesexhibition landed in L.A., nearly one year after it first debuted at the Louis Vuitton family house in Asnières, France. Occupying an expansive, color-drenched space at 468 North Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills (a short walk from the brand’s flagship), the exhibition incorporates vintage shipping crates, robots, and digital screen-integrating trunks to celebrate the fashion house’s legacy while plotting its course into the future.

The show’s roster of contributors is a veritable who’s who of designers, artists, and celebrities, testament to the depth and breadth of Louis Vuitton’s influence more than 200 years after its namesake designer’s birth.

用树干blank canvas, feminist icon Gloria Steinem wrappedthe piecein a yellow-lined legal paper inscribed with a message about travel and belonging. Members of K-pop supergroup BTS inked colorful illustrations ontheir trunk, and design-mind Bruce Mau opted for arainbow numberwith his zero-gravity, light-reflective trunk. Among the architectural set, Gaetano Pescemelded trunk and tombwith a warning about ignorance and totalitarianism; Peter Marino posed a challenge to Harry Houdini with his inescapable,leather-strap-bound trunk; and Pierre Yovanovitch created a “box of ideas” made up of 27 rectangular coordinates magnetically toggled together.

综上所述,这次展览提供了一个opportunity to compare and contrast how 200 different minds reimagined a single object. “This project has always been about creativity—a real tribute to Louis’s ingenuity and entrepreneurial spirit,” said Faye Mcleod, visual image director at Louis Vuitton, in a press release. “We get to see how such a cross-section of talents answered the same brief while also taking a moment to appreciate the man himself.”

One living legend from the world of architecture will play a more prominent role: Frank Gehry’s trunk will be featured in its own room within the exhibition, allowing more space for the towering,celebratory explosion of a piecebeyond the limits of the 50 x 50 x 100-centimeter box. The major moment marks the latest in Gehry and Louis Vuitton’s long-standing collaborations. (Gehry also designed Fondation Louis Vuitton and Louis Vuitton Maison Seoul.)

200 Trunks 200 Visionaries is on view in Beverly Hills through September 6. As with the first leg of the world tour, which raised $2 million Euros for 15 charities, philanthropic efforts will continue in the American phase of the exhibition in support of educating young creatives.