Tuesday, 4 October 2011

The Art of Travel by Louis Vuitton

© Louis Vuitton / Aurore Colibert
Luxury brand Louis Vuitton has released a set of hotel labels which celebrate the art of travel. Thirty adhesive postcards from the brand's archive feature what are described as "the great hotels of the world, from the Plazza Athénée in Paris to the Astor House in Shanghai".
 
All 30 hotel labels, from Collection Gaston-Louis Vuitton


Each label is derived from the extensive collection of Gaston-Louis Vuitton, the grandson of Louis Vuitton and a great traveller, who wrote in 1920: "What can be found on old luggage? There is the stamp of the means of transport employed, of the journeys made, of trips taken, all of which is marked on old papers and hotel labels."

© Louis Vuitton / Aurore Colibert
"We will follow them and with them we will travel around the world, not in eighty days like Phileas Fogg, but even faster. Ancient countries and civilisations will be recalled on these pieces of paper; could they be attractive enough to make you want to collect them and maybe even set off on a journey yourself?"

"Show me your luggage and I will tell you who you are” - Louis Vuitton advertising, 1921
© Archives Louis Vuitton / DR
The boxed set comprises 30 postcards and stickers of hotel labels, along with an illustrated booklet on the art of travel, and is available from Louis Vuitton stores, and online, priced at €60.

Drawing extracted from 'Voyage iconographique autour de ma malle' by Gaston-Louis Vuitton, 1920 © Archives Louis Vuitton