That tradition lives on in the form of Louis Vuitton’s “200 Trunks, 200 Visionaries,” a traveling exhibition that has landed in New York for its final stop, taking over the former Madison Avenue flagship of Barneys, which closed its doors nearly three years ago. The exhibition made its debut at Vuitton’s historic residence outside of Paris last year, then headed to Singapore in April, before setting up shop this summer on Beverly Hills’s Rodeo Drive.
It is not a stretch to say that famed Paris luggage maker Louis Vuitton originated the concept of the modern day “collab”.
In 1886, after patenting its signature lock system, Louis Vuitton publicly challenged American magician Harry Houdini in a newspaper article to escape from a locked Vuitton trunk. In 1996, to celebrate the anniversary of its classic monogram canvas, the fashion house invited designers to put their own creative spin on its bags, which resulted in a globe-trotting exhibition. From there, the LVMH-owned brand continued to partner with other artists on everything from manga to street graffiti designs.
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