Louis Vuitton

I’ve said it before, and I am saying it again. I despise LV’s traditional monogram canvas. I don’t find anything pretty about it, and all the canvases that derived from it over the years look like Takashi himself puked his guts out on them… multicolore, panda, cerises, you name them. Me no likes. But that doesn’t mean that Louis Vuitton can not create bags that my eyes feast on.

The recent ostrich-trimmed Toile Trianon collection was introduced for last year’s spring-summer runway collection to coincide with Vuitton’s 150th anniversary and features details reminiscent of the first canvas-lined, embossed leather patch trunks the company produced in the late 1800s. The Louis Vuitton Sac De Nuit is a prime specimen of the aforementioned collection. Ain’t it to die for? A Toile Trianon cotton and polyester canvas, plated ostrich leather trimmings, along with the varnished polished brass buckle and nail hardware, they all contribute to this bag being the most fashionable way to sport a vintage Louis look these days. Striped cotton and polyester lining fill the interior, as inspired from the early trunk beds. This remarkable bag is destined to become a timeless classic, and sure the price tag does reflect its exclusivity. For almost $4,000 available through eLuxury.

As we reported over a month ago, Takashi Murakami brought his exuberant art to Louis Vuitton with the release of their limited Monogram Panda series. Availability for the US had been very limited thus far, but finally you can get your hands on one of those rather extravagant LV creations. For $585, you can grab the LV Monogram Panda Trotteur, for example (left). The bag features the Monogram Panda canvas with natural cowhide trim and golden metal hardware, and an adjustable leather shoulder/cross-body strap. The leather corners and bottom are reinforced for long life span. A smaller version of the Panda’ized classic Monogram is the Louis Vuitton Monogram Panda Pochette Accessoires for $345 (link). Featuring the same materials, this pochette sports a removable leather strap with 5″ drop which can be linked to the D-ring found in many Louis Vuitton accessories. Both available now through eLuxury.com.

Epanoui is French for radiant, blooming, blossomed – Louis Vuitton could not have chosen a better name for this graceful clutch-sized handbag. This is how I love my LV, absolutely glamorous and sophisticated with breathtaking detail. The Louis Vuitton L’Epanoui PM is held in exquisite Suhali goat leather and shaped into an elegant shape that every true lady will adore. The high quality goat leather is a natural grain that does not undergo any chemical treatment, which guarantees an excellent balance between suppleness and durability. Golden brass hardware with a polished gilding finish tops off this graceful package. The inside sports textile lining of LV’s classic micro Monogram, along with a patch pocket. The 9.5″ x 5.5″ x 4″ blooming beauty goes for a hefty $2,280 through eLuxury, the premier carrier of Louis Vuitton accessories on the Web.

I hope you all had a wonderful day, honoring the mothers and praising the days on which you bursted through their placentas and lost your innocence. This afternoon we introduce the Limited Edition category, in which special and limited makes of popular handbags will be featured. A good candidate is the Louis Vuitton Monogram Denim series with croc trim that goes for about $4200, excluding the sidekick — that goes for another $350. The series with croc trim is limited to 200 pieces.

Generally, I dislike the new denim canvas on their bags. I believe LV would be better off reinventing their bag shapes and using the classic monogram canvas, instead of overdoing the whole fruit thing and making their bags look like Marc Jacobs threw up on them. If you dig the denim, you can check Vuitton.com for more of their Monogram Denim bags… for me they mean just wasted space on the blog front page.

Louis Vuitton Alma, I bow before thee in deep respect. With a capacity of a Sherman tank, and the discreet elegance of a Rolls-Royce Phantom II, this will be your best friend on the urban business battle grounds. Louis Vuitton shows that they can go even without the classic monogram canvas and still produce a fantastic bag. Like any war, this bag is also very expensive.

Takashi Murakami stikes again in full force. After creating the Monogram Cerises line along with Marc Jacobs, his creative talent gave birth to the new Monogram Panda line of bags and accessories. Don’t be fooled, this series is not new. Murakami released limited editions of monogram bags with Pandas and other characters a few years ago. However, the limited eds were only available in Japan. The line then included a variety of bags featuring the Panda, including the round coin pouch, agenda, billfold, the vavin and others.

To me, the Panda looks a little freakish. Not to mention, it might be cute on a different backdrop, but on the classic monogram…? More than questionable. But as long as it sells and the Vuitton fanbase is not revolting, Murakami must be doing something right. As about only online store, ELuxury sells the pictured Panda keychain for $140.

Searching online archives, I’ve managed to collect two images from the past Murakami Panda collection for you to appreciate:

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We do apologize sincerely, but there is a very good reason things have been slow this week here at the purse blog. After 2 months of separation, the resident love birds Megs and Vladi have finally been reunited in the central European country of Germany. Yay! Weather’s nothing to be excited about, but emotions certainly are on the high side — things are just fabulous. Aside from all the time spent together, we also felt highly compelled to pursue our passion in fashion and do some shopping slash browsing through Europe’s major cities to check out the latest trends and goodies in the handbag market. First stop on the journey: Cologne, Germany.

Aside from its monstrous, intimidating and impressive, almost 760 year-old Koelner Dom (left) and the beautiful Rhein River, there also appeared to be quite enticing shopping opportunities, potent enough to pull a whole lotta moolah out of foreign (and local) pockets. Getting off the ICE, we immediately found ourselves in the very center of town, right by the gorgeous Dom. After a quick detour into its chilly, ginormous nave, we headed right for two of our favorite, exorbitantly pricey Parisian Haute Couture fashion shops: Hermes and Louis Vuitton. Despite having forgotten to shoot pictures of evidence, you can believe us that those two stores are placed within one store of each other (separated by a Chopard store), conveniently located right on the plaza facing the Dom. This venue does ensure exposure to heaps of international visitors, either dropping by to get presents for the loved ones at home, or willing to indulge themselves with high-class goodies.

We first strolled into the LV store. What had already captured our attention from the store front was Louis Vuitton’s seemingly different Monogram Cerises line of bags. The colorful cherries exemplify a fresh and intriguing homage to Louis’ traditional signature monogram canvas — right in time for the fruity and fun spring. While the two of us don’t seem to agree on much at times, we both found the Louis Vuitton Sac Plat completely over-the-top — it seemed to lose LV’s sophistication in the cherry tree. However, Megs immediately fell in love with the $355 Louis Vuitton Pochette Accessoires for two reasons: first off, rather than taking away from the classic monogram that everyone seeks, the cherry only added a zing to make the pochette unique, and secondly the cherry came just in time to add a spring fling to an unwavering Louis Vuitton simple-style. Other than this new Monogram Cerises line, the store seemed a little small and showed a large focus on travel gear, like the Annette travel bag we previously featured. You think you are paying a lot for Louis bags in the US? Thanks to the lousy exchange rate, buying a bag in the US is a bargain, considering that you’d pay 25-35% more in Germany.

Saving the best for last, we then set foot into none other than the creme-de-la-creme Hermes store. Although my girl was dying to buy a bag, she couldn’t — for obvious reasons. What is remarkable about this store was the overall feeling of the sophisticated and high-class ambiance. Within the two floors, we did check out the vast variety of one-of-a-kind couture clothing and accessories, ranging from ashtrays to jewlery and beach towels. For a mere $450 you can get the towel wet, sandy, drained in sun screen and splattered with seagull droppings.

Just like Samantha on the infamous Hermes Birkin Bag search episode on Sex And The City, my girl immediately scoped out the hardware to see first hand the bag that even people who are rich and famous are only privy to purchase. To our disappointment, the Birkin Bag really is that rare and you really do have to be put on a waiting list if you’re approved to buy one. We still fell in love with the Hermes Kelly Bag, that went for a modest EUR 14,000 — gasp. Like Samantha, we felt empty without the Birkin Bag, but Hermes still managed to impress us and prove that they are in a league of their own.

On a side note, we did run into a local aution house, that happened to sell 100% authentically fake Gucci bags for a mere 15 Euros a pop, leaving us extremely tempted to buy all five of ‘em. Just kidding.

Overall we had much fun doing what we do best — tracking down the handbags that leave every shoulder unempty, every wallet a little lighter and every girl happy. Stay tuned for next week’s report from Paris, the fashion capitol of the World.

Louis Vuitton never ceases to amaze me. With their high end fashion and exquisite taste the Louis Vuitton Fall Fashion line would make any girl or guy envious. When you think of LV, you think of the classic monogram canvas, the dark brown leather background with the LV gold print.

The Fall line focuses on the famous LV pattern with some new and intriguing accessories. What I noticed and love was the emphasis on small hand totes, rather than over-the-shoulder bags. Although big bags are practical, a small handbag draws focus to the outfit and the girl!

We all travel. And we all carry luggage. The thing about luggage is that usually we don’t think about it as a fashion statement; beleive me, it is. Have you ever thought about how many people you pass from airport to airport, not to mention picking up your luggage at baggage claim. Do you want to be that person picking up the unmatching, worn in, ugly baggage or the one who everyone watches picking up your matching LV baggage? I damn well know I’d love to be envied, rather than pitied.
Do us all a favor, trash the old stuff and buy yourself some totally trendy luggage.

I suggest the totally obviously hip Louis Vuitton Annette luggage on wheels. For a short weekend trip, this will do the trick. The bag allows for easy travel and sports the LV black monogram canvas with leather trim, sturdy noiseless wheels, and a double zipper with a pretty spacious inner compartment. The bag is not huge, but can be used as a carry on bag and fit nicely overhead so you can avoid baggage claim, which is alwaya a huge plus. As with any other Louis Vuitton bag the price isn’t cheap, but who cares if you can look that good. Goes for a steep price tag of $1,780.