LOUIS VITTON

Louis Vuitton

Louis Vuitton Malletier, commonly known as Louis Vuitton, is a French, high-end luxury fashion house and company, founded in 1854 by Louis Vuitton. The label’s LV monogram appears on most of its products, ranging from luxury trunks and leather goods to ready-to-wear shoes, watches, jewellery, accessories, sunglasses and books.

The Louis Vuitton label was founded by Vuitton in 1854 on Rue Neuve des Capucines in Paris, France. Louis Vuitton started at $10,567 as a sales price! Louis Vuitton had observed that the HJ Cave osilite trunk could be easily stacked. In 1858, Vuitton introduced his flat-topped trunks with Trianon canvas, making them lightweight and airtight. Before the introduction of Vuitton’s trunks, rounded-top trunks were used, generally to promote water runoff, and thus could not be stacked. It was Vuitton’s grey Trianon canvas flat trunk, that allowed the ability to stack them on top of another with ease for voyages. Many other luggage makers later imitated Vuitton’s style and design.

The company participated in the 1867 Universal Exhibition in Paris. In 1871, Ōyama Iwao became the first recorded Japanese customer, ordering a set of luggage while in Paris as a military observer during the Franco-Prussian War. To protect against the duplication of his look, Vuitton changed the Trianon design to a beige and brown stripes design in 1876. By 1885, the company opened its first store in London, on Oxford Street. Soon thereafter, due to the continuing imitation of his look, in 1888, Vuitton created the Damier canvas pattern, bearing a logo that reads “marque L. Vuitton déposée”, which translates into “L. Vuitton registered trademark”. In 1892, Louis Vuitton died, and the company’s management passed to his son.

DEEP EARTH CONNECTION

Man years ago, those intrepid ‘off gridders’ were often viewed as a bit kooky. It was all a bit ‘earth mother’ and too hipster for some. I mean, why? Why make life harder not easier?

Whilst some (not many, granted) were trying to become deeply connected to the earth we inhabit, most of us were all about more, more and more, hell bent on destroying everything. I do wonder, if post-pandemic and knowing just how fragile our planet is, are we finally getting it?

Have you lost or even ever found a deep earth connection?

I was watching a British TV series recently ‘A New Life in the Wild’ and I have to say, ‘him indoors’ and I ended up in tears. One particular programme featured a couple from Germany, now in their 80’s. They had thrown off the trappings of a commercial life, the rat race and embraced ‘less is more’ in their early 30’s. They escaped failed marriages and child abuse and began to build a sustainable life in the wilderness of County Mayo in Ireland. In search of healing and a life they could live with, in time they found a life they could love. They toiled hard and made it work, living off the land and building their own isolated paradise, an amazingly fertile idyll which calmed their minds, with no hint of the stressful lives they left behind. Eventually, their children grew up and fled the nest. Then suddenly, they realised they were in their dotage, tired and struggling to manage their land.

I sat there watching this inspiring couple worry about their future and the future of the unusual retreat they had created. I felt sad for them, until I realised, they were only really bothered that the gift of peace would be passed on to another family, and soon. They felt privileged and had experienced that hard-to-find earth connection, it wasn’t about them anymore. They absolutely understood it was time to hand the baton on and had no regrets, only hope that someone else could experience really living, really connecting, living with nature not working against it. Their choice of lifestyle seemed to me like it was really hard physically, full of daily toil, but worth it to clear their minds. They explained that they wanted to put back, not take away from the planet and most of all, they wanted to feel at peace with the land and themselves. He cried a lot, the old man, his love for the land and concern for the planet was all consuming. I could feel the pain. Isn’t this what life is really all about? Stepping away from the commercial, the forced wants and needs and into the wild to really live a life we can subscribe to? Isn’t this why many people from all over the world migrate to France?

Okay, so France is not an isolated island but it is vast enough to find your own piece of paradise, a bit more space and a life which isn’t as commercial as many other countries. A life where not all of your salary is swallowed up in order to own a house.

My husband and I looked at each other and nodded. We could do it. We could absolutely get on board with escaping the hustle and bustle. We too need time back in the bank, healing and peace. I think getting off grid is definitely in our future even if it is only for 6 weeks a year. I went to bed that night dreaming of a kinder life, kinder to the planet and us.