Thais have a certain adage we say when encountering a friend carrying a heavy handbag: What do you have in here, your house and estate inside?
Today it is a tongue-in-cheek comment, but rewind back 200 years ago, it likely was the case with aristocrats and royalty travelling nowhere near light. Because travelling back in the day was arduous, travellers would typically be away for long periods of time to make the most of their laborious trips -- this meaning they had to bring with them many personal possessions to use while away from home.
For a fascinating look into this bygone era, visit Louis Vuitton's "Time Capsule Bangkok" exhibition at Parc Paragon, Siam Paragon. It may look like a shiny, sleek spaceship on the outside. Inside, however, displays will take you on a journey back in time to that of the house that is long famed for making luggage for kings and queens of the world.
The collaboration with Azzedine Alaia in 1996 for the centennial of the monogram canvas.
The founder himself, Louis Vuitton, was born into a humble family of carpenters. Fed up with his occupation of packing for the French royalty, he decided to use his experiences to become a trunk maker when he was 16.
Enabling his customers to travel in style for the past 160 years, the first room houses rare and celebrated objects from the Louis Vuitton archive that showcases how their products have always excelled in being innovative and ingenious in anticipating the needs of the traveller. Since 1895, there have been camp bed trunks available, with the option of it coming with or without the mattress for the customer to choose from. Alongside it are many century-old trunks and their modern-day homages, such as the zinc metal trunk from the 1860s. Its modern incarnation, revived by the women's collections artistic director Nicolas Ghesquiere, gives a nod to its history, all the while looking fabulously contemporary, with its decorative hardware matched against colourful embossed leather.
The brand's rich history is steeped into all forms of transportation. The next two rooms show how their bags and luggage have evolved to provide convenience as new forms of transportation became vanguard. Technological innovations included wheels, while bags that were carried by hot-air balloons had to be able to float because one could not tell if the balloon would land on the ground or at sea. Other necessities included luggage for keeping perfume bottles, watches, cigar boxes (which must be temperature controlled) and even board games bound in leather. How else would the rich and classy keep entertained without iPads today?
So far, the exhibition has been understated and mellow, but there are more splashes of colour in the room "The Icons Of The House". The past two decades have seen the brand collaborating actively with noted contemporary artists to bring a new life to their bags. There are pop (and conspicuous) icons such as the cherry blossoms by Takashi Murakami and polka-dotted frenzy from Yayoi Kusama that are recognisable from miles away. The colourful graffiti collection by New York artist Stephen Sprouse is also one of the most widely remembered collaborations, but what's more stunning are the more obscure pieces that require a bit more fashion research. This includes the collaboration with Azzedine Alaia, which resulted in a handbag with a panther-patterned strap, or luggage with red-hot linings inside made especially for storing shoes by Manolo Blahnik.
An original trunk from the 1800s, top, and a modern-day piece drawing inspiration from it.
The exhibition takes visitors around the world and the next-to-last room features pieces related to its host country. In this case, it is a celebration of Louis Vuitton's past and present links with Thailand. These valuable pieces include a watch trunk HRH Princess Sirivannavari Nariratana designed in collaboration with the brand in 2008, as well as photographs of the King's and Queen's luggage used while on their European tour in the 1960s. You'll have to go see the real thing, complete with its royal cipher, at the Queen Sirikit Museum of Textiles, but what's real are replicas of ordering files for Prince Yugala of Siam in 1928. Handwritten and drawn, these documents show how safe boxes for jewellery were ordered and how they looked like back in the day.
Bringing things back to the present in the last room, it's a stunning video mapping you're in for, with a trunk in the centre of the room and its façade changing as the history of Louis Vuitton zips from its beginning in 1854 to its current Supreme collection. Your journey through the LV heritage will end here, but any good trip always includes a souvenir.
Visit their postcard vending machine, where you can get two sticker postcards with LV patterns as a free gift after filling out details. Considering how it's not often such rare objects are available for viewing for free, this is one exhibition that's worth visiting.
"Time Capsule Bangkok" will be on display at Parc Paragon, Siam Paragon until Sept 25. Open daily 10am-8pm. Last entry to exhibition 20 minutes before closing time. Free admission.
