LOUIS VUITTON SYMBOL DIED A 90

Connery’s family confirmed Saturday that the actor died in his sleep while at home in Nassau.
Born into a working-class family in Edinburgh, Scotland, Connery enlisted in the Royal Navy, and held various jobs as a youth, working as a milkman, a bricklayer and a lifeguard. He was also a talented athlete and keen bodybuilder, and at one point turned down an offer to play with Manchester United soccer team. He later entered the 1950 Mr. Universe contest and came in third place in one of the categories before becoming a jobbing actor.

Ian Fleming, author of the Bond books, was initially horrified by the prospect of his posh character, a graduate of Eton College being played by someone as lowly as Connery. Fleming quickly changed his mind when he saw what the actor could do, and later invented a distinguished Scottish ancestry for the Bond character. Continue reading

MEN’S STORE FOR ABLOH

Louis Vuitton is opening its first ever standalone men(s store in Tokyo. Originally scheduled to coincide with the Summer Olympic Games in the Japanese capital, the opening comes as the country’s economy is reopening cautiously against the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic.

In line with the ongoing social distancing restrictions, the store in the new Miyashita Park mall will open on July 6 by appointment only. Advance booking online will be required until July 27. Continue reading

NOT JOHNNY CASH BUT COCA

A Coco in Vuitton. Return to Vuitton for Coca, who started his career as a leather goods designer at Vuitton from 1996 to 2000. Adding more design muscle to a linchpin category, Louis Vuitton has snared acclaimed leather goods designer Johnny Coca.

Johnny Coca acclaimed leather goods designer, who recently exited as Mulberry’s creative director after a successful five-year stint, is also known for his work under Phoebe Philo at Celine.

Born in Seville to Spanish parents, Coca later moved to Paris, where he studied art, architecture and design at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux Arts, École Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture de Paris-Malaquais and École Boulle in Paris, respectively.

The hire further reinforces the upscaling drive spearheaded by Vuitton chairman and chief executive officer Michael Burke and adds to a steady addition of top creative.

It’s with great pride that I join Nicolas Ghesquière and the Louis Vuitton teams to further develop the women’s handbag collections. Continue reading

LOUIS VUITTON RESTART PRODUCTION

Louis Vuitton has reopened 12 of its 16 leather goods production sites in the country with the aim of producing hundreds of thousands of masks for its staff and nearby retirement homes.

Michael Burke, chairman and chief executive officer of Louis Vuitton, on Wednesday visited the Sainte-Florence workshop in the Vendée department in the west of France, where as of Monday 115 out of 896 employees were back at work, including 22 producing a mix of disposable and recyclable masks.

Vuitton’s various workshops in Marsaz, Saint-Donat, Saint-Pourçain, Ducey and Sainte-Florence are making masks and prototypes, while the Issoudin and Condé workshops are making masks exclusively. The luxury house’s historic atelier, which opened in 1859 in Asnières on the outskirts of Paris, remains closed. Continue reading

VUITTON’S SOUL DIED

carcellediedYves Carcelle, the charismatic executive Director who transformed Louis Vuitton from a staid French maker of handbags and travel trunks into one of the world’s most recognizable luxury brands, died on Sunday in Paris. He was 66 year old. The French media reported that Mr. Carcelle learned last year that he had kidney cancer.

Mr. Carcelle, who was promoted to the top post at the Louis Vuitton brand in 1990 and later ran LVMH’s fashion division, was the architect of an aggressive expansion into Asia and other international markets that elevated leather goods emblazoned with Louis Vuitton’s distinctive LV logo into one of fashion’s most coveted status symbols. In 1997, he gave the brand further impetus by recruiting Marc Jacobs to design shoes and ready-to-wear clothing for Louis Vuitton, which also added watches, jewelry and other accessories. Continue reading