Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Louis Vuitton Makes The Right Move


As we've said before, we're not advocates of brands that base their design solely on one repetitive logo (*cough* Coach). It just gets old. Why then that have we not been critical of Louis Vuitton, who's been whoring-out its logo all over its handbag line?

Well first, Louis Vuitton has some history to fall back on. They invented soft luggage, which makes their bags a perennial object of desire no matter what may be en vogue at the moment. This history is kind of like fashion insurance - there will always be some LV faithful who buy their product. Still, Louis Vuitton could use some freshening up for their bag line. They've just answered our prayers and delivered the perfect punch: grey and black.

This is just the kind of innovation and differentiation that sets Louis Vuitton apart from the rest. Right when you think their bread and butter designs are getting dated, they swoop in with something fresh, stately, and unique. Actually, from a distance the design resembles some Gucci pieces, but the color is unmistakably non-Gucci, so that puts our gripe to rest.

Click on over to Fresh Mess for the rest of the photos.

3 comments:

Jeanna said...

Gucci?!? Resembles GUCCI??? I don't even know what to say about that.

LV is ALWAYS swooping in and out with new collections that are truly different from the classics. But this isn't one of those designs; Damier canvas in different colors is nothing new. Also, don't underestimate the devotion of the LV following. I don't see that kind of brand loyalty for any other bag designer.

Cameron Newland said...

Oh, I don't underestimate the LV following.

And, though LV switching up colors is difficult to play up as strong innovation, I think it's notable because it's like they're building on the strength that greys have seen over the last year or two in woolen pieces, Thom Browne, et ceterea.

It's like fashion is a conversation, and Louis Vuitton is responding to us with their own take on what fashion has been saying.

Perhaps they'll bust out Royal Blue next season. I doubt they'd be that brash though.

Cameron Newland said...

Oh, and as to the Gucci reference, the grey/black Damier resembles a lot of what Gucci has been putting out, from a distance.

Their trademark GG fabric looks checkerboard when you're more than 10 feet away, as seen on this bag:

http://www.neimanmarcus.com/store/catalog/prod.jhtml?itemId=prod41390119&parentId=cat14150739&masterId=cat12310742&index=0&cmCat=cat000000cat000141cat000149cat000226cat2880735cat6170735cat12310742cat14150739

And I've seen Gucci do this pattern in black and grey, which makes it look VERY similar to the Damier, again, from a distance.

http://static.zoovy.com/img/designerwholesale/W150-H150-Bffffff/gucci_handbags_gg103399_grey_black.jpg

Here's an example that fits the new Damier colors better:

http://www.neimanmarcus.com/store/catalog/prod.jhtml?itemId=prod42340081&parentId=cat14150739&masterId=cat12310742&index=11&cmCat=cat000000cat000141cat000149cat000226cat2880735cat6170735cat12310742cat14150739

I'm surprised I was the only one to see similarity between them.