At the last FIFA World Cup in 2010 I was bullied
into watching the final rather than going to bed. Obviously, I'm not a particularly big sports fan (the only "betting" I do is on eBay and I consider my exercise
walking around in my new pumps). Regardless, I sat down to watch the
football/soccer match (I’m an Australian so it’s soccer down here since we’ve
got our own version of football and it’s too confusing to think about
otherwise!). And the one thing I
noticed about the match that night (I fell asleep about half way through - much
to my friends chagrin - only to be awoken by the cheers of victory) was that the trophy was presented in a Louis Vuitton
custom designed trunk.
It was official. The FIFA World Cup Trophy
was cooler than I was.
2010 was the debut of the Louis Vuitton trunk as
the custodian of the FIFA trophy, being presented to the Spanish victors on the
final field. The trunk itself is handmade in Louis Vuitton’s historic and
infamous Asnières workshop and designed specifically for the trophy’s
requirements.
Unlike you or I, the FIFA World Cup doesn’t need to worry about
clothes, toiletries or accessories – instead the trunk is built to protect the
beautiful trophy which is made from solid 18-carat gold! The trophy stands at
36cm and weights around 6kg and has a green malachite base. The trunk is fitted
with the traditional Louis Vuitton Monogram canvas and brass locks and opens at
the front so that the trophy can be easily removed and presented to the World
Cup Winners for 2014 on the 13
th of July.
FIFA is by no means the first to order a
custom built Louis Vuitton trunk. The infamous luxury brand was originally
known for its trunks before later branching into bags, clothes, shoes and other of
life’s essential non-essentials. The trunks crafted in the Asnières workshop
are renown for their quality, skillful craftsmanship and the innovation in their design. Their other commissioned projects include the trunks and bags featured
in Wes Anderson’s film The Darjeeling
Limited, the fold-out bed trunk of the African explorer Pierre Savorgnan de
Brazza and the trunk Karl Lagerfeld uses to carry 40 of his iPods and his speakers
in.
The trunks from The Darjeeling Limited and Karl Lagerfeld's iPod trunk.
I have to say I an endlessly jealous of whoever got to discuss with Louis Vuitton
about the trunks creation – it is on my fashion bucket list to both (1) visit
the Asnières workshop and (2) have my own custom built trunk. Both are pretty
unlikely but a girl can dream. I’d love a trunk that would be big enough to
hold a small selection of clothes, shoes and jewelry, but also have room for
books and my laptop! What would your
dream trunk be?
The Louis Vuitton Mansion and Anières Workshop
Fashion is a weapon, use it dynamically
