The Archives
OCT 2015 - OCT 2019
LOUIS VUITTON
In 1886, Louis Vuitton and son, Georges sought out to solve a problem that would birth an innovation that would become revolutionary. A device that would not only catapult the LV brand to greater heights but one that would astronomically distinguish their trunks from any other in the market then.
This device is known as the Tumbler lock. It was developed from the need to help clients protect their goods from menacing burglars while travelling. After several years of development, this lock system solved the problem so effectively that even when the great Harry Houdini was challenged by Georges to free himself from a Vuitton box and lock, he failed.
An enterprising Georges noting the ingenious device that they had invented, went on to patent this revolutionary system that is still relevant to Vuitton’s travel goods today.
HERMÈS
The Kelly bag is an icon that has gone through several facelifts and redesign processes to become the classic design that it is today. The bag went from being a saddle holder, to being redesigned as an incredibly simple bag for Hermes’ wife Julie by her son Emile Hermes and designer, Ettore Bugatti. Years later, came the defining design that would gain Hermes enviable popularity. Made in the 1930’s by Hermes’ son-in-law Dumas, the Kelly bag was redesigned to a spacious travel bag, a sharp contrast to the flat, simple designs of the day.
The bag found favor in the eyes of the then famous actress and princess of Monaco, Grace Kelly who spotted the bag on the set of a film she was starring in. In the height of her success she was photographed using the bag to hide her growing belly from the Paparazzi; that photograph was featured in Life Magazine and the bag’s success ascended to the skies.
BURBERRY
An Icon that has become a staple in our wardrobes was actually never designed as a fashion piece in the first place and furthermore it was not even called a trench as we know it. Thomas Burberry, the designer and founder of Burberry had a single mission to fulfill in the early 1900’s which was to make the most efficient rain coat for military soldiers.
This design brief dictated every single feature of the trench from the epaulettes which were added to display the rank of officers to the D-rings on the belt which were used to carry military equipment. The gabardine fabric that was invented by Burberry himself was made to be light and resilient to the weather elements for soldiers who were usually in the trenches- hence the name trench coat.
After the war, the coat became a fashion statement more so after being seen on the famous men and women of the day.
CHANEL
Contrary to the norm of the day in the 1920’s when wearing black was strictly reserved for mourning and servants by society, the ever bold Coco Chanel designed a black dress; a dress that would allow women free movement and effortless elegance as was the culture of Chanel.
Even before the dress was made, Chanel’s sketch of a black dress with long, narrow sleeves, a straight silhouette, calf-length and a string of white pearls to accessorize, was featured in American Vogue which predicted the dress to one day become a stylish uniform owned by all women.
The dress came at a time when it was desperately needed. A time after the war, in the beginning of industrialization and the depression when many women of the day were pushed into becoming workers and the need for practical clothing arose. No longer did women subscribe to the flamboyant, full dresses and tight bustiers and corsets that limited their movement.