The Final Frontier

"Louis Vuitton commemorates the 40th anniversary of man’s conquest of the Moon, elevating the theme of travel as a personal journey to a celebration of a voyage of unsurpassed significance for all mankind. The latest Core Values advertising campaign features Buzz Aldrin, who in the course of the historic Apollo 11 mission with Neil Armstrong on 20th and 21st July 1969, became the second man to set foot upon the Moon; Jim Lovell, the commander of the ill-fated Apollo 13 mission in 1970, who - as the world watched with bated breath - heroically guided his crew back to the safety of Earth; and Sally Ride, who in 1983 became the first American woman to venture into space as a crew member on Space Shuttle Challenger." [nitrolicious.com]

Shot by Annie Leibovitz, the three astronauts were brought to a plateau of the Californian desert, where, apparently, the moon takes on a supernatural brightness. It features the Icare bag, which was "named with reference to Icarus, a character in Greek mythology who is the son of Daedalus and is commonly known for his attempt to escape Crete by flight, which ended in a fall to his death." [ilvoelv.com]

All the symbologies and icons seems to line up thus far. But what I think is too sneaky of LV is that they always align themselves with such significant figures whereas, truthfully, LV had nothing to do with their success (Sean Connery, the Coppolas, Mikhail Gorbachev). It hardly seems fair to their competitors who continue faithfully to schillack their ads with pretty airheads and hairless shiny men, who represent the superficiality of the product with true validity. At least Omega, who launched the limited-edition Speedmaster Apollo 11 Moon Watch with Aldrin this week, can actually say he really did wear that watch on his historic moonwalk. But LV is kind of just parasitic. Sure there have always been celebrity endorsements. But this is an entire web video montage of all the significant launches and personal interviews with the astronauts as they reminesce on their accomplishments through the hardships: http://www.louisvuittonjourneys.com/

P.S. This little Louis Vuitton Icare piece of fabric construction measures at 5.9" x 11.4" x 15.5" and costs a whopping $1,530 US.

P.P.S. But maybe it's just space is in right now, considering that the fall collections of Balmain, Karl Lagerfeld, and Preen all showed retro-futuristic motifs that looked to be inspired by old Star Trek costumes.

P.P.P.S. Imagine the next space suit covered in the LV monogram.