Retracing the past,
shaping the future

Forget that this exhibition has anything to do with a high-profile luxury brand, or in fact, anything to do with the nitty-gritty details of exchanging hard-earned anything for something pretty. The Louis Vuitton Series 3 exhibition is a communication tool, a portal, or uplink/downlink to the depths of a dreaming designer, a reminiscing historian, and into the hearts of those that create with their hands. Think Minority Report, TRON…or even Being John Malkovich, and imagine the odd yet enticing notion of seeing the inner workings of someone’s head, the strong electrical current of emotion, and a digital realm that seems so fickle yet real at the same time. Most importantly, Series 3 is not about the destination, but the journey. And this is where we make the connection with Louis Vuitton as a brand, with a ‘malle’ (trunk) at the core of it all.

The day my team and I arrived to shoot the exhibition, 180 Strand was still a construction site – the air was thick with dust, cables strewn across the concrete floors that still bore the footprints of the workers. In the four hours that took to shoot this story, the exhibition came to life around us: the screens fizzed with activity, lasers re-calibrated and spotlights trained on the artisans. I must say it was hugely humbling to have experienced that part of its journey, the intimate, fragmented moments before it becomes one entity, so I’d like to thank the LV team for the invitation to shoot this story. Finally, here it is, my little tour of #LVSeries3, with hopes that you will be able to taste a bit of the experience before deciding to pay a visit, which I strongly recommend – admission is free, just book online for a slot. The exhibition will run until October 18.

The Entrance
Abstract

This optical illusion greets me at the foyer, first of many – the classic LV signet evolves into the modern twist lock in an animation that peeks through only through the layered blades of polarized glass…

Cerebrial Journey
Atrium

A vast atrium where a geodesic dome is suspended mid-air swallows me into Nicholas Ghesquere’s brain. It’s a journey towards creative enlightenment: I lose myself in the moments of tranquility, meditation and sweeping illumination.

A dizzying experience inside what seems to be a LV designer’s mind: muses, memories and new shapes form around, with the heritage trunk at the core of it all. Beware, the ground may feel unstable after a while.

A tale of an artisan – be the hands behind a Petit Malle and see space and time whizz past you.

This room takes me straight back to Paris, to the AW15 show in March. I re-live the excitement of a new collection and buzz of the spectacle.

The lights are off, all but a single blade of laser that animates pattern-cutting of some of the familiar designs from AW15. The room alone explains the importance of the brand’s intimate relationship between man and machine.

One of my favourite rooms – watch live, the craftsman from Paris, bringing a thousand meticulous movements to create one special piece.

Experience an overwhelming blow to your ocular and vestibular senses as you step into what seems like a new dimension, and let your eyes settle on familiar colours and shapes of accessories from both the archives and the AW15 collection.

Press your nose against the jewel casing and count the stitchings – this glass structure (that looks like a figment of imagination) is in reference to elements from the Palm Springs Resort ’16 set-design.

A rest-stop, but also where I ease back to real life, after an experience that almost feels like an intrinsic dream. At the far wall I re-connect with my 9-year old self and picking out all the stickers I can fit in my pocket. Stickers of bags, shoes and the alphabet.

Like a teenager’s poster-clad room, new faces of the campaign blanket the walls in the last chamber. Pick up a poster for yourself. Move aside Leo Di’Caprio, we’ve got ourselves a new obsession…