The disdain that some people have for monogrammed handbags has grown exponentially over the years. Classic monogram patterns are some of the most sought-after and worn designs ever, but although everyone knows the Louis Vuitton monogram, for example, not everyone likes it. I don’t find it as abhorrent as others do, and seeing Louis Vuitton find ways to implement it on their bags without it being quite so in-your-face delights me.

For some reason, Louis Vuitton hits it out of the park for Valentine’s Day better than any other brand this side of Cartier. (Not that Cartier does anything in particular for the holiday, but, you know, DIAMONDS.) Vuitton always has a few heart-shaped small leather goods on hand at this time of year for the occasion, and this year’s V-Day vernis is striped in red and pink (it also comes in a darker jewel-toned version).

It’s my most favorite Man Bag Monday of the season, you guys! As far as big handbag brands go, Louis Vuitton is without question the line that gives the most amount of love to its male customers instead of just focusing on us ladies. Not only does Vuitton do a full runway show of menswear in Paris during Men’s Fashion Week every season, but the clothes area always accompanies by a litany of utterly gorgeous manbags.

Image via Louis Vuitton

Louis Vuitton’s Spring 2012 runway show was a joy to behold for a variety of reasons: the enormous carousel set piece bearing dozens of the world’s best models, girlish clothes in the most powdery and feminine of pastels, luxury in every detail. The entire collection felt fresh, light and joyful. Personally, though, I was distracted by one thing and one thing only, which was trying to guess how much the littany of crocodile pieces, from bags to jackets, would cost once they hit retail.

When you’re a brand with a rabid, slavish following like French leathergoods giant Hermes, it’s important to think outside the box in order to both maximize profits and cater to your very particular customer’s every need. With quarterly growth in the double digits since time immemorial, Hermes has taken a page out of the Louis Vuitton book and now brands everything under the sun, including the simplest of writing implements: the pencil.

Usually, Louis Vuitton artist collaborations are easy to describe. The French brand tends to err on the side of big, bold, graphic visuals, and subtlety usually isn’t a common trait among its collections with the likes of Stephen Sprouse and Takashi Murakami. To say that the twee, low-fi animation of the brand’s recent video, The Great Journey of Little Bagcharms, is unexpected would be an understatement.

Images via Louis Vuitton

As I’ve mentioned previously this week, the non-season seasons really irk me, as an accessories lover. Even Louis Vuitton, a company that knows where its bread is buttered (the brand didn’t even start making ready-to-wear until Marc Jacobs’ advent in the 90s), doesn’t release handbag shots with its standard lookbook for pre-season collections. C’mon, Vuitton, throw us a bone!

Many brands have tried out the designer-artists collaboration, but only Louis Vuitton has it down to a science (and an extremely profitable one at that). Even casual fashion watchers know the names of the artists that Vuitton has brought on – Stephen Sprouse, anyone? Takashi Murakami, does that ring a bell? Vuitton announced earlier this week that it’s about to make another artist a household fashion name – Yayoi Kusama, an 82-year-old Japanese visual artist known for her love of dots.

Image via Gawker

We know that Louis Vuitton is willing to sue anyone and everyone in order to make sure that its logo or name isn’t used in any ways of which it doesn’t approve; after all, the company sued Hyundai last year over the brief appearance of a monogrammed basketball in one of its commercials. The ball didn’t even have an “LV” on it, but that didn’t stop Vuitton from filing a trademark infringement complaint against the Korean carmaker.

Images via Fashionista.com

Because I know we have so many Louis Vuitton fanatics around here, I couldn’t resist posting these first looks at the Louis Vuitton Spring 2012 ad campaign. If you followed our coverage of the Vuitton runway show a few months ago, you probably could have guessed how this campaign would look – pale, precious and ever so sweet.