Love It or Leave It: Louis Vuitton Race Bags

I’ve never been a NASCAR fan (or even seen a NASCAR race, for that matter), but I’ve always thought the league’s team jackets, full of advertising patches and competing colors and lots of miscellaneous stuff, were kind of cool. They’re sporty and exuberant, with little consideration for aesthetic gentility or traditional design norms. For Cruise 2017, Louis Vuitton took a page out of that playbook with the bold, bright Louis Vuitton Race Bags.

Racing’s traditional checkered flag dovetails nicely with Louis Vuitton’s signature signature Damier check, which gives the brand common aesthetic ground with motorsports that you wouldn’t otherwise expect. From there, creative director Nicolas Ghesquiere experiments with color combinations and angles, capping things off with colorful monogram trim. It’s a lot of look, as Tim Gunn would say, but, oddly enough, most of it works. That’s especially true of the blue-based bags, which are more aesthetically pleasant than their orange counterparts.

I’m a little surprised to say it, but I kind of love the Louis Vuitton Race Bags? The blue Speedy, Neverfull and Alma BB Bags are pieces I could see myself incorporating into my mostly black wardrobe and enjoying a lot because they’re so aggressively different than everything else out there right now. I have a feeling not all of you will agree, though, so feel free to roast me for it in the comments.