Luxury World

Between the half-shoes/half-claws shown by Alexander McQueen and Chanel Spring 2010 being show in a barn with smirking models, I thought I had seen every ridiculous thing that Paris Fashion Week had to offer.

And then at replica Louis Vuitton handbag  Spring 2010, creative director Marc Jacobs saw fit to attach furry tails to the bags. Yep, that happened.

As far as bags go, the show started…dreadfully. Most of them appeared to be made of dip-dyed cotton canvas in candy colors with coordinating fluffy appendages streaming off the back, which were sometimes bigger than the bag itself. After a dozen looks, I thought I was in for a very unpleasant show.

But after a little while, things started to look decidedly better. I’m not sure if it was just the fashion show version of Stockholm Syndrome, I guess that’s always possible, but things rallied a bit during the middle and end portions of the show. Instead of canvas bags with animal parts hanging from them, Vuitton returned to the leathers and embossed logos to which fans are slightly more accustomed.

Which is not to say the bags were boring – they weren’t. The opposite, in fact. And they weren’t entirely successful, but I appreciate the combination of colors, materials, and textures that Jacobs attempted in order to make something new out of one of the most recognizable logos in the fashion world. The collection was heavy on messengers, and the ones that combined logo leather with smooth in different colors were probably the best bags of the show, in addition to the duffel bags made of similar textures. Please, Marc Jacobs, if you’re out there: please give the tassel-covered bags a rest. Thanks.

The more I look through the bags from the last half of the collection, the more the eclectic ideas and influences grow on me, and I’m not sure what my final opinion will be once the dust of fashion week has settled. One thing is sure, though; adventurous collections like Louis Vuitton, John Galliano and Alexander McQueen are what make Paris the world’s reigning fashion city. New York has some catching up to do.

The latest Replica Handbag Louis Vuitton catalog was one of the best photographed catalogs I have seen in a long time. There was a holiday theme which was not over-the-top cutesy, rather sophisticated and perfectly fitting. One of my favorite photos was a fairytale-like forest scene accented with an array of Louis Vuitton Neverfull Bags.
From the minute the Louis Vuitton Neverfull hit the scene, it was a handbag lovers favorite. The design is inherently simple yet functional. And then Louis Vuitton decided to dress up the Neverfull with Crocodile skin, which had us at hello (though the $32,000 price tag is a bit out of reach).

The Neverfull is available in Monogram, Damier, and Monogram Roses right now (with new versions being released periodically). There are three sizes as well.

I have a hard time putting into words the excitement I felt when I received the press release on the latest Replica Louis Vuitton Core Values campaign. As with the previous campaigns featuring outstanding personalities like Sean Connery, Michail Gorbachev, Keith Richards and the famous astronauts Buzz Aldrin, Jim Lovell and Sally Ride, the latest campaign could not have chosen better Core Values icons.

There is no other photographer whose work I have adored and studied as much as Annie Leibowitz’s beautiful portraits for Rolling Stone, Vogue and Vanity Fair. Hence, I was delighted to find out that she would be featured in the latest Core Values campaign, alongside her close friend and legendary dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov. The self-portrait captures a delightfully intimate moment between the two friends in Annie’s NYC studio, with subtle lighting accenting key elements of the scene.

Absolutely marvelous! Fantastic of the fashion house to honor the exceptional photographer and artist who has been going through rough times financially in the past year.

Press release below!

LOUIS VUITTON
ANNIE LEIBOVITZ WITH MIKHAIL BARYSHNIKOV:
A UNIQUE SELF-PORTRAIT FOR LOUIS VUITTON

As Louis Vuitton’s Core Values advertising campaign enters 2010, Annie Leibovitz, the photographer whose remarkable portraits have greatly contributed to its success, turns her lens upon herself in the company of her long-time friend, the legendary dancer and choreographer Mikhail Baryshnikov.

Never before has an Annie Leibovitz self-portrait appeared in the context of an advertising campaign, and the story behind it is almost as fascinating as the image itself. Over the course of their three-year collaboration on the Core Values campaign, Louis Vuitton and Annie Leibovitz have forged a relationship of mutual trust and respect. Given the photographer’s recent personal and financial troubles, Louis Vuitton wished to offer support in the most positive way possible, and suggested that she become the next exceptional personality to feature in the Core Values campaign. Annie Leibovitz was touched and flattered, and accepted on the condition that the self-portrait should show her alongside one of the stars she has spent her life photographing 鈥?her close friend Mikhail Baryshnikov.

One of the foremost dancers of the 20th century, Mikhail Baryshnikov defected from the Soviet Union at the height of the Cold War and went on, in the course of an exceptionally long career, to grace the world’s greatest stages, before breaking new ground as an artistic director and choreographer. For Louis Vuitton, he is photographed in Annie Leibovitz’s New York studio, standing on a box in his dancer’s uniform of black T-shirt and trousers, with a subtle spotlight falling on his uniquely gifted feet. Annie Leibovitz sits on the floor nearby. Next to her is her camera, from which she is rarely parted, and a Louis Vuitton Neverfull holdall in Monogram canvas packed with books on dance. The tagline reads: “The journey of a star captured in a flash”.

Antoine Arnault, Head of Communications at Louis Vuitton, comments: “We have the greatest respect and admiration for Annie Leibovitz, both as a person and as a professional. We were delighted to be able to offer her our support in troubled times, and she has responded like the consummate artist she is, with a truly exceptional image which 鈥?with its association of photography and dance ?once again broadens the scope of our Core Values campaign.”

I was looking at my handbag collection the other day and I realized that most of my handbags are very “safe”. There are typical shapes you would expect, typical colors, and typical materials. I can’t say that my collection is boring, but the day I was looking at my bags I felt the need for some spice and pizazz amongst my bags. I bought a new Marc Jacobs bag recently (reveal to come this week) that is so loud and edgy, it will surely bring an immediate burst of energy into my collection. But I am craving more.

After I saw the Louis Vuitton Spring 2010 handbags and accessories at the LV boutique in Bal Harbour, I ordered two items. One is the colored fox tail that continues to be seen adorning the Spring bags. The other item I will not reveal, as it is one of the four bags I am having you vote on. But I am second guessing my choice and want your help. Help me decide which Replica Louis Vuitton bag from the Spring 2010 collection will add more spunk and character to my collection.