Louis Vuitton

In rather hectic fashion, Shannon and I made our way to New York last Monday for the unique chance to meet and greet the Chief Operating Officer of Louis Vuitton North America, Mr. Daniel Lalonde. When we received the invitation last week whilst being on vacation, there was no real hesitation before realizing that we had to take advantage of this unique opportunity.

The Location

Shannon and I had high hopes that the event was going to take place in the flagship store on 5th Avenue, in our fantasies we had envisioned Vuitton clearing a whole floor off eager shoppers and letting the event attendees roam the palace freely.

The disappointment was only faint when a kind SA in the store pointed us to the adjacent building down 57th Street, where part of Louis Vuitton N.A.’s corporate headquarters are located. To my pleasant surprise, the showroom was presenting beautiful pieces of LV’s fall collection, some of which I captured on camera.

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Tomorrow Vlad and Shannon will be attending an intimate cocktail hour hosted by Daniel LaLonde of Louis Vuitton for online publishers. Louis Vuitton is slowly making its way into the online world of publishers and social media (last week Louis Vuitton announced that it is officially on Twitter). We are extremely honored to be invited to this event as we have been longtime followers and fans of Louis Vuitton.

Vlad was granted photography access as well, which means exclusive photos for all of you! While photos are an intricate look into this gathering, questions directly asked to the CEO would share even more information on the much-loved Louis Vuitton. We can make no promises, but what if we were able to ask the CEO of Louis Vuitton some questions? If we are lucky we may snag a few minutes of Daniel LaLonde’s time and if we like your questions, we may put them on our list!

If you could ask Daniel Lalonde, the CEO of Louis Vuitton North America, anything what would it be?

This right here, folks, is why they hate us. And when I say “they,” I’m not talking about terrorists. I’m talking about everyone. Because there are few things more imminently hateable than a $450 beach towel. The Louis Vuitton Ipanema Beach Towel, to be specific.

And I totally get that’s it’s all in good fun and totally hilarious and kitschy, but seriously, a beach towel? Something made specifically for putting on the ground and messing up with Corona, sunscreen, and sand? At this point, all it elicited from me was a serious eye-roll. I know that people with money to spend will spend it as they please, as well they should, but I think we may be beginning to stretch the bounds of reasonableness. Maybe I just feel like that because of the price, however – if this was $150, I probably just would have chuckled and moved on, and wouldn’t even be writing about it right now. But it’s not, it’s three times that, and that’s not a typo. It’s also something that I can simply not abide. Buy via Vuitton.com for $450.

Louis Vuitton North America announced that 15% of all sales made through their online store would be donated to The Climate Project. Louis Vuitton has been actively pursuing efforts to reduce its carbon footprint and overall impact on the environment over the past few years. What better reason than to shop when you help a good cause?

We had the opportunity to pick brains at Louis Vuitton’s North American Corporate headquarters, read more about LV’s continued involvement below.

Read the Q&A with Louis Vuitton Corporate below...

Hermes does Bugatti, Smart cars, Citroen 2CV. I have a real soft spot for these types of collaborations, it is the best of two worlds gracefully fused into one. Very exclusive, very expensive, very delicate, and very awesome.

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I know that the Stephen Sprouse collections have been a bit controversial among the Louis Vuitton crowd, but for some reason, I can’t help but like them. Perhaps it’s because I’m a fan of the Sprouse aesthetic in general, or maybe because my generation is probably the target audience for pop-art fashion, or maybe it’s just because my personal taste can, at times, venture to the ridiculous. For whatever reason, I wish I had unlimited funds and a reason to own something like the Louis Vuitton Monogram Graffiti Neverfull GM.

As with all Neverfulls, I wish the strap was thicker, and if it was it would make a perfect school bag for a college kid that has everything (and I knew one or two of those during my undergrad years). Because of the utter ridiculousness of the bag – orange writing over brown and tan monogram – it’s one of those bags that you really wouldn’t need to try and match to anything. It’s iconic enough on it’s own that the only thing I would seriously advise against wearing it with would be another bold pattern. Other than that, go to town – wear it with whatever, but be proud. It’s the type of bag that you really have to own to pull it off. Buy through eLuxury for $1290.

I’ve been on the look recently for a very tiny pouch or wristlet to use as a clutch. I want something small enough to fit easily in my hand that will hold only the very essentials – house key, car key, ID, cash, phone. But the phone is where I’m hitting an impasse, because I have an enormous Blackberry with an even more enormous clear plastic shell to keep it safe (gotta brag for a minute – it’s one of the new click-screen ones! I love it!). As such, the thing is approximately the size of a small computer, and even if I can find a wristlet into which it fits, nothing else will fit alongside it. So I’ve decided to get a bit creative in my current search, and this morning came across something that could potentially work very well – the Louis Vuitton Monogram Vernis Cosmetic Pouch MM. I realize that it’s meant to hold lipsticks and whatnot inside of a larger bag, but since it doesn’t have cosmetic pouch emblazoned on it anywhere, I doubt anyone would know the difference. Besides, I’m all for repurposing things (kinda of like the tv stand holding the microwave in my kitchen. Ahem). At any rate, it looks like it’s just small enough to fit in my hand while being just big enough to contain my giant brick of a phone, and it zips all the way across the top, lest I drop it or hit anyone in the head with it. Perfect! On top of all that, amarante is my favorite color of LV vernis ever and would go really well with all the black I tend to wear. Now if only LV ever went on sale. Buy through eLuxury for $450.

Our friend Marc Jacobs sure does love to court trouble. He overshares about his personal life, tattoos random things on his body, and dates more men that most college sorority girls (don’t take offense, ladies – I, too, was a college sorority girl). And ever since Mr. Marc took over as the creative head of Louis Vuitton, their yearly accessories collections have become hipper, younger, and dare I say, edgier. As a throwback to the Stephen Sprouse graffiti collection of years past, Sprouse’s artwork has been used to adorn handbags, scarves, sarongs, and various small accessories for 2009.

Sprouse was a pop artist and punk icon of the 1980s, and the loud colors and louder shapes of his work reflect the exuberance of youth culture during that decade. I adored the leopard print Sprouse scarf that made such a big impression last year, and in this year’s full collection of the artist’s inspired work, my favorite is, again, a scarf – The Louis Vuitton Monogram Roses Stole. It’s bright pink and red with huge pop art roses, and it makes me smile just looking at it. It takes a talented man to make a floral print into something edgy and punk, don’t you think? Some people love this stuff, and some people hate it, but our own Louis Vuitton forum proves that everyone loves to talk about it – and that seems to be Marc Jacobs’s entire intention. Buy through eLuxury for $890.

The Stephen Sprouse Tribute Collection at Louis Vuitton continues to trickle into eLuxury. First only accessories were showing, now if you act quickly, you can have a piece of the Monogram Roses collection. The Speedy, Neverfull, and Pochette are available now, all showcasing the fluorescent rose pattern which is screen printed onto the canvas through 15 frames, perfectly re-creating the essence of Sprouse’s style of brush painting. I opted out of the Speedy, since I got the Watercolor Speedy last may. But I will be owning one piece from the Roses collection, one piece from the Graffiti collection, and we bought the awesome Book! Buy this and other Sprouse piece through eLuxury. Roses Speedy $1,310.

Make sure to read up on how to win your very own Louis Vuitton: The Stephen Sprouse Book!

Folks, we’ve done it. I think. Maybe I’m being optimistic. But, with the advent of the Louis Vuitton Card Deck Set, I think it may be possible for someone with enough money and enough dedication to go through their entire day without deigning to use a product that’s not luxury branded. We’ve covered Chanel and Hermes bicycles, Gucci makes wallpaper, Fendi makes bedding, Versace makes furniture. And now, your husband won’t just be playing poker with the guys, he’ll be playing Louis Vuitton poker. And that won’t get him made fun of by his buddies AT ALL, I promise.

Eluxury promises that this set includes three “luxurious” decks of cards, so please, help me brainstorm in the comments – exactly how does one make playing cards luxurious? The first thing that came to my mind was having the symbols ever so carefully covered in close-cropped mink, making them slightly furry. How would you do it? Buy through eLuxury for $105.