Louis Vuitton: Secret Places-The Vuitton Family Home, Asnières

 

For me, this season, it began and and is to end (LV is to close PFW on March 7) with Louis Vuitton. That is to say, before the festivities kicked off in New York, Susie Lau of Style Bubble and I had the chance to make a very special trip to Paris with the famous French house, to discover their "secret places" and be welcomed (brace for cheesy metaphor) into the inner-recesses of their history, discovering the secrets concealed deep inside those legendary trunks.

A mere thirty minutes northwest from the heart of Paris is nestled a small town called Asnières-Sur-La-Seine. Driving through the quaint village of less than 80,000 people, turning onto a small road as far as can be from the gaping breadth of the Champs Elysee, a sign reading Rue de la Congres with a thick black X through it sits above a newer sign, in blue, boldly pronouncing RUE LOUIS VUITTON alerting you to the fact that this is no ordinary French suburb. Far from it, Asnières is the home of Louis Vuitton, that is, of the founding family and luxurious trunks alike. 

 

In 1859, Louis Vuitton (the man, not the brand) decided to move his production operation out of Paris to Asnières, where it has remained, at least for the trunks and specialty bags, ever since. In the manner of 19th century family-run businesses, Monsieur Vuitton had living quarters installed above the workshop, though his main residence remained in the capital for some time. Two decades later, tiring of urban Paris life as one does, he moved himself and his wife Emilie permanently to the rural sanctuary and they erected two houses in the garden surrounding their craftsmen (on whom they could spy through little keyholes in their stained glass windows facing the workshop).

In 1880, Vuitton’s son Georges married Joséphine Patrelle and assumed greater responsibilities within the company, including the creation of the now world-famous LV monogram, at once in honor of his father and to discourage would-be copycats. On the death of his father in 1892, Georges moved into the house with the patterned brickwork which Susie and I were able to visit. 

A truly exquisite and immaculately preserved example of Art Nouveau interiors (even family photographs remain grouped in bundles on side-tables and mantlepieces), the sun-drenched sitting room is one of the finest examples of a salon decorated in this style in the whole of France. Due to the particular aesthetic of Art Nouveau, when the movement found itself ousted from favour relatively quickly thanks to the advent of Art Deco which incited a re-decorating frenzy throughout France, very very few examples remain. 

Even at the time of George's renovation, re-doing his rooms in Art Nouveau was a risky move, as the lithe forms, organic curving lines and nutre's influences (including plenty of live plants and flowers) flew in the face of the traditional "solid" décor then favoured by the bourgeoisie. But we all know the Vuitton family was never one to sheepishly follow trends; then or now, they've always led them.

The house has been lovingly maintained by subsequent generations of the Vuitton family, and still plays host some of its most exclusive guests and friends of the house. Walking through the front door and into the Moroccan-trunk flanked dining room, you are immediately transported to the world of Vuitton, but not the high-octane glamour, glitzy world of luxury fashion and travel we associate with the brand today. 

A much softer elegance was to be found there, a deep family history rooted in a love for travel, for objects of beauty, throughout the world. A distinctly oriental accent, including an intricate Japanese carved wood desk, sheds light on the brand's DNA. The floral motifs adorning the absolutely stunning writing-desk are, without a doubt, the predecessors to those adorning the classic LV monogram. The place has a real story to it, Vuitton's story, and reveals a family who married their love for travel, of adventuring around the world with their craft; the place is riddled with artifacts brought back to France no doubt on steamships inside the century-old trunks that now serve as tables or decoration within it.

The living room is bathed in bursts of natural light, streaming in like golden pillars through the intricately wrought floral-motifed stained glass windows that are signed by the local artist Paul-Louis Janin and dated 1900 and giving the impression of the garden outside spilling into the interiors of the residence. The perfect place to take in breakfast and a newspaper each and every morning, a sprawling billiards table occupies a large central space in front of the sweeping bay windows, a bonsai tree sits on a low table and the walls are covered with bookshelves. In the center of the living room sits a brilliant blue ceramic fireplace, around which we gathered for a petit tea before heading into the workshop for a sight even more wondrous...