Asnières-sur-Seine, a sunny morning in early March.
A fireplace is lit in the living room of the Louis Vuitton family home, an Art Nouveau-inspired building.
It was here that in 1859, the founder, who had traveled (on foot, you know the legend) from Jura to Paris twenty-two years earlier, set up his first workshop.
In the adjacent building, where special orders from major clients are carried out, we are working on a very particular project: the two trunks intended to house the most precious sesame for Olympic athletes, the medals (created by Chaumet, jeweler of LVMH).
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Closed, they measure 1.44 m high and 95 cm wide.
Open, they peak at 1.73 m with a width of 1.90 m... Divided into three parts (a classic Vuitton shape), they are made from a mixture of beech and poplar and covered with the famous Monogram canvas.
Inside, more than sixty drawers, each capable of holding eight or nine medals, all padlocked with custom-made locks.
A new demonstration of the historic know-how of the trunk maker in his first profession, faithful to the techniques used here since the 1850s.
The “torch” trunk made to carry the Louis Vuitton torch
It is difficult to know how much time is needed to manufacture this jewel of French craftsmanship, largely shaped by hand - apart from a few 3D modeling steps necessary to create the different drawer sizes.
We will just know that it took many hours of work ("The time it takes for everything to be perfect", we smile in the house) and half a day to cover the canvas trunk... Because, from the installation of the protective lozines, to that of the nails, including the configuration of the locks or the covering of the lining of the drawers, it is indeed the hands of around fifteen craftsmen trained here which make this object exceptional.
“
It’s really impressive,”
recognizes Enzo Lefort, French fencer and Olympic medalist in 2016 and 2020, Louis Vuitton ambassador who came to visit the Asnières house for the first time.
We really feel the quality of the object, the thickness of the wood, the care taken to ensure that everything holds together.
I have not seen this type of device in the Olympiads in which I have participated.
»
170 years of expertise
That's not all: the craftsmen also signed two trunks intended for the torch, created by Mathieu Lehanneur.
This time covered with Damier canvas, they will be used to transport it from Marseille (for the Olympic flame) and Stoke Mandeville (for the Paralympic equivalent) where their journeys will begin, on May 8 and August respectively.
For the trunk maker, these are two new forays into the sport.
Since 1988 and the America's Cup, he has signed the "trophy" trunks of the biggest competitions, the Webb Ellis cups for rugby, the Monaco Grand Prix, the football Ballon d'Or, the Larry O' Brien of the NBA, the Roland Garros Musketeers, the Football World Cup… among others.
“
To protect the symbol of Olympism – the torch of the flame – as well as the dreams of the greatest athletes – that of achieving an Olympic or Paralympic medal – required the know-how of exceptional craftsmen.
Louis Vuitton has put its 170 years of expertise in mail trunk design at the service of Paris 2024 (…).
It is a great pride today to unveil these unique creations which will remain engraved, I am sure, in the history of the group and the Games!
», declares Antoine Arnault, in charge of image and environment for LVMH.