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Most people have heard of the brand Louis Vuitton. These days, Louis Vuitton is the one of the most luxurious brands and they are selling bags, clothes, also accessories, and shoes. But did you know that Louis Vuitton started out by making trunks? I visited exhibition named <The Legendary Louis Vuitton Trunks> located in Myeong-Dong to look for the brand Louis Vuitton and the history of their trunks which were made for various purposes like travel, navigation, and business. They were exhibiting traveling trunks, celebrities’ trunks including kings’ and unique things which we never thought of use. I am going to introduce these interesting trunks and their hidden stories through this article. Let’s go on a journey together!
Trunks For Travelers
At the entrance of the exhibition, there were some trunks made a long time ago. Their characteristics are that they were owned by travelers which had engraved their names and were made to suit the needs of their owners. Among them, the most noticeable trunk was a ‘Desk Trunk’. This trunk was for busy travelers who needed an office and could continue to work on a moving ship. So, it has been named like that.
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| Desk Trunk |
The second trunk was John Moffat’s three trunks, called ‘The Coal King’. As you can see below, there were some features, which his name is engraved large and in red. These were the part of his collection, and he lived in hotels around the world without own home. So, he used trunks often, after his death, 120 expensive trunks were found on his property. As most of the collection was Louis Vuitton, we can assume that he was a big fan of the brand.
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| John Moffat’s Trunk |
Lastly, is the first aid kit trunk. These trunks, more than a hundred years old, are first aid kits made by Louis Vuitton in the 1910s for emergencies. I can presume that it’s made for people who go around various places. Why I introduced this is that it was cute and attractive that a luxury brand made small first aid kit trunk. In fact, they arranged with models of medicine bottles which were used in the past often, so it was interesting to imagine how they used at that time.
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| First aid kit Trunk |
Trunks for Celebrities
The second section exhibited trunks owned by celebrities’ various countries. Let’s learn about the trunks of people who succeeded in various fields including musical actors, singers, and writers.
First, they are LP trunks and shoes trunks owned by actress Judy Garland. She was an Oscar winner actress who played the role of ‘Dorothy Gale’ in The Wizard of OZ. LP was an inspiration to her; she made a trunk which could hold LP record so she could be inspired to something while traveling. Also, she had shoes trunk that could hold 36 pairs of shoes. There is an interesting story to this shoe trunk is she had a large foot size so it could not be stored 36 pairs of shoes. When I saw this with my own eyes, they looked big, and it was surprising that the spaces were divided so we could put shoes one by one. I really wanted to open it!
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| Shoes Trunk |
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| LP Trunk |
Next, is the ‘Secretary’s Trunk’. This one was specially ordered to store creative notes conveniently for international composer Leopold Stokowski. It was made to store and move his notes: Leopold’s own mobile office. In the picture below, it is systematically divided into spaces. First, if he opened the side of the trunk, it could be a desk. Also with chair, he could write his works anytime, anywhere.
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| Secretary’s Trunk |
Luxurious Trunks
This time, I could see unique trunks that looks luxurious (extravagant). It was the most interesting section while looking around the exhibition and they looked so unique that I thought, “It looks really excessive.” Let’s look at one thing that caught my eye.
It’s the ‘Casino Trunk.’ This trunk was a full-set casino trunk owned by Tommy Hilfiger, who made the brand TOMMY HILFIGER that we love. It was jaw-dropping and weighs 95 kilograms. All the tools and equipment were installed and although I did not know about it, I thought “I want to try it once.” This trunk was the most fancy and shiny one during the exhibition.
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| Casino Trunk |
We looked for Louis Vuitton’s historic trunks through some sections. It was the first time to see the trunks that people owned, and it was so gorgeous that I wanted to touch it slightly. Also, it was a good time to hear about the trunks’ hidden stories so, it seems that time has lost track of time. Next, these are the comments of the Gachon Herald’s reporters who watched it together.
Tae Seok Yang: Through the exhibition, I could see old trunks which looked big and heavy. Watching to the trunks that looked heavier than the luggage, I could know there were innovation before the current trunks. It was fun to watch the various purposes of the trunks and it was surprising the brand pattern had been carved on it for a long time.
Yeon woo Jung: Before watching the exhibition, I was wondered if I could feel something with watching someone’s trunks. But it was literally enough to represent ‘Enjoy the Journey.’ Trunks were used for more purposes than I expected, and they contained not only clothes and luggage but also small luxury, hobbies, dreams, and daily life. Trunks were enough to capture someone’s travel and life, so it was meaningful exhibition for me.
If you want to learn about the beginning of Louis Vuitton and trunk history, how about visiting the <Legendary Louis Vuitton Trunks> exhibition with the keyword ‘Enjoy the Journey’?
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