If you were to commission Louis Vuitton to create a bespoke trunk made to hold anything you desire, what would it be? What would you think of Karl Lagerfeld’s custom Vuitton trunk made to hold his collection of 20 iPods? Pretty cool if a little over-the-top - just like the man himself. A Chinese gentleman has commissioned something more grandiose and yet more mundane from the famed French luxury goods house, which will produce anything within reason.
The client “wanted to be able to watch television and offer coffee to his friends wherever he traveled in the world, including the remotest desert,” LV’s Patrick-Louis Vuitton recounts. “We agreed to put two solar panels linked to a battery for the flat-screen TV and DVD player, two-way radio, tuner and coffee machine.” The trunk, covered in Damier canvas, took a year and tens of thousands of dollars to complete.
Meanwhile, Vuitton creative director Marc Jacobs has been heard to remark that luxurious trunks are not likely to make a comeback. “I don’t think there’s anything practical about travelling with a trunk,” Jacobs said. “Luxury travel is traveling with a toothbrush. That’s it, end of story. The people who really live luxurious lives don’t need to pack. They’ve got stuff wherever they go.”
Even Infiniti are getting in on the act by commissioning LV to produce these pieces for their Essence.
Hard Graft High Collection
What better way to keep your precious electronic essentials all cozy and protected than in sleek and chic fine wool felt? Pretty much guaranteed to always stay in style, the Hard Graft High Collection is classic, simple, and beautiful functionality at its best. Featuring woolen and leather sleeves for everything from your Macbook to your iPhone to your Kindle and Moleskine, the only thing missing (in my opinion) is a choice of colors - if only for making it easier to tell items apart if you have more than one to wrap up in felt.
www.hardgraft.com
Armor Plated Roller
A fully armored Rolls-Royce Phantom, able to withstand everything from a direct assault with an AK-47 to a poison gas attack, is for sale in Germany via online global luxury marketplace JamesList for about $1.5 million. Engineered to the highest international protection rating, the armored Phantom is virtually indistinguishable from the standard version to lure attackers into a false sense of security.
The car features high-tech fiber composites and special steel plating to provide protection for the bodywork, with bulletproof glass for all windows and its own oxygen supply in the trunk in case of a gas attack. The ultra-luxe car’s aluminum spaceframe chassis and suspension have been strengthened and the 453 hp powertrain remains unchanged, while nothing has been sacrificed in the way of luxury, refinement and comfort.
Whilst on the subject of Rolls Royce, we thought we’d introduce you to the Geely (pronounced Jee-Lee) GE. Looks like a Roller, doesn’t it? A bit too much for the Grande Marque’s liking in fact. Litigation has ensued. A bit of Whilst we never endorse this kind of thing, we kind of admire the Chinese cars ‘brass-neck’ for having a go, and give them two-thumbs-up for installing a ‘throne’ in the centre of the rear of the car. How wild is that?
