“For Fall/Winter 2011-2012,” says Louis Vuitton Artistic Director Marc Jacobs, “Steven Meisel and I met and decided we would do this wonderful story of beautiful vintage cars, little dogs and fresh-faced young women. It’s a very classic scenario, and of course it suggests travel, but I think we gave it a fresh, modern and sometimes a little bit naughty, tongue-in-cheek spin.”
The Louis Vuitton Fall/Winter 2011-2012 campaign shoot was a complex and carefully coordinated operation involving not only six young, up-and-coming models, five vintage cars and their chauffeur, but also seven pairs of pedigree dogs, themselves cast from dozens of hopefuls, all gathered together at a disused aerodrome in Brooklyn. From these somewhat unlikely surroundings, a striking and sophisticated series of images emerged, taking up the narrative of the Louis Vuitton fashion show at the point where the woman leaves her hotel and steps – along with her pet pooch – into her chauffeur-driven limousine.
Against the cars’ lustrous bodywork, leather upholstery and polished wood fittings, the rich textures of Louis Vuitton’s Fall/Winter 2011-2012 collection – patent leather, lacquered python, shearling, Mongolian lamb – add a further layer of luxury. The nine visuals also showcase the season’s star accessories – among them shiny rubber boots, shearling officer’s caps and glazed lambskin gloves – as well as the variations on the iconic Lockit handbag, including the Extraordinaire clutch in alligator with its diamond-paved padlock and handcuff. “Who wouldn’t want to be this gorgeous young woman in the back seat of this beautiful car?” asks Marc Jacobs. “And wherever she’s going, she’s dressed in style this season by Louis Vuitton.”
Isabelle des Garets, Advertising and Editions Director for Louis Vuitton, comments: “Congratulations to Marc Jacobs and Steven Meisel on a truly extraordinary campaign, and one which – though playful in spirit – demonstrates, in its absolute attention to detail, the remarkable savoir-faire associated with Louis Vuitton.”
The Louis Vuitton Fall/Winter 2011-2012 advertising campaign will break in the August 2011 issues of magazines worldwide.