Europe’s luxury industry drew some comfort on Friday from Hermes’ (HRMS.PA) relatively encouraging 2009 outlook, and a positive trading update from LVMH (LVMH.PA).
The news from the world’s two biggest luxury groups by market value lifted the whole sector, battered in recent weeks by disappointing sales and growing evidence of restrained spending even among the ultra-rich.
Fresh figures from the pair showed upmarket handbags, shoes and other leather goods resisted consumer thriftiness better than jewellery, watches and certain spirits. Hermes said it aimed to keep 2009 sales relatively constant against 2008. Many analysts expect the global luxury market to fall about 10 …

Louis Vuitton is paying tribute to the artist Stephen Sprouse, who passed away far too young in 2004, with two exceptional collections created in his honor. The leather goods maker is also joining the New York Deitch Project gallery for the first retrospective of Sprouse’s work.
Artist, music aficionado and designer, Stephen Sprouse defies capsule qualification, given his multi-dimensional talent. Fusing downtown New York street wear with uptown high fashion, he was a seminal force behind the rock-inspired futurist punk aesthetic of the 1980s.
The artist’s first collaboration with Louis Vuitton came in 2001 when Artistic Director Marc Jacobs invited him to …

Ad visual Louis Vuitton Damier Graphite men’s line

One hundred and twenty years after the creation of the Damier canvas—created by Georges Vuitton to counter imitators—Louis Vuitton revisits this iconic motif for men. In elegant black and grey tones, the new Damier Graphite line has a distinctly urban style, pure and precise, contemporary and cosmopolitan. Woven in Italy, the canvas has the trunkmaker’s discreet “Louis Vuitton Paris” emblem stamped diagonally ten squares (height and width), positioned with ultra-precision on each of the pieces in the collection. The smooth black leather is graced by bright polished palladium hardware. The Damier Graphite collection …

As if we weren’t excited enough Louis Vuitton offers a glimpse into the conception and shooting of the ads of the new ground breaking Louis Vuitton Spring Summer 2008 Campaign. The French luxury brand placed a four minute “discover the making of” video on their site including interviews with Marc Jacobs, Stephanie Seymour and Naomi Campbell.
The gorgeous ads, that were shot by Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott in 2007, feature supermodels Naomi Campbell, Eva Herzigova, Stephanie Seymour, Claudia Schiffer, Angela Lindvall and Natalia Vodianova in colourful Louis Vuitton creations on exciting cars, exemplifying the glossy and glamorous Vuitton woman.

The campaign, …

Ever since acquainted with the French luxury brand Louis Vuitton I simply couldn’t understand the craze about Louis Vuitton bags. Every time I walk past the Louis Vuitton boutique on Rue du Rhône in Geneva the same old bags with their boring designs in brown and gold LV monogram canvas are staring at me from the display window. Thousands of the same LV bags (probably authentic and fake ones) catch my eye each year and the feeling of “I want it now” never bubbles up. If I have to pick the Louis Vuitton bag that tuned me off most then …