At the Cour Carré of the Louvre, the site of Louis Vuitton's big-budget fashion shows for the past few seasons, a red-and-white-striped hot air balloon carrying model Arizona Muse in its basket recently lifted off for the cameras of Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin, who filmed the French luxury label's latest push into television and cinema advertising.
The one-minute commercials from Louis Vuitton debuted Sunday on CBS in the U.S., TF1 in France, Channel 4 in the U.K., and on 15 channels in China. They were also aired on Monday in Italy, Russia, Japan, Korea and Hong Kong. In the following week, the ads will screen in cinemas across countries including Ukraine and Germany. A two-and-a-half-minute "director’s cut" has been made available on Louis Vuitton’s website and various social media presence like Facebook.
With original music by composed by John Murphy, supermodel Arizona Muse features with Italian masterpieces in a museum setting. She is seen with the Mona Lisa, before using a key on her necklace to unlock a Vuitton trunk she encounters.
From the inside lid she plucks a letter, tucks it into her purse and makes her escape into the sunset-streaked Paris sky as a handsome man trails her. In a travel-inspired theme, Arizona is seen with the Louis Vuitton Speedy handbag in Monogram Empreinte leather, and the limited edition key pendant.
The video commercial is the latest example of Vuitton’s "institutional" advertising, reinforcing the label's travel heritage and artisanal roots — as a complement to its fashion advertising. Van Lamsweerde and Matadin, who shot Vuitton’s first fashion advertising, said the film is an invitation on a journey opening "the pathways of knowledge, initiation, mystery and curiosity."
Louis Vuitton intends to let the story unfold further, with the next episode slated to be unveiled in 2013.
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