The story behind Louis Vuitton’s ‘trophy trunks’ for a historic Australian Open

It was in 1858 that the eponymous Louis Vuitton created his first trunk: flat on its high and sides, the innovation allowed them to be stacked advert infinitum to accommodate the rising wardrobes of the burgeoning travelling courses. One early shopper was Empress Eugénie de Montijo, the spouse of Napoleon III, an admirer of the opulent crinolines of Marie Antoinette who would purportedly not put on a robe greater than as soon as.

Within the time since, the Louis Vuitton trunk has metamorphosed to accommodate a collection of eclectic objects, from a folding mattress (made for the explorer Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza in 1905) to a library of books (created for Ernest Hemingway, it offered at a 2024 Christie’s public sale for €88,200), alongside caviar packing containers, tea units, sizzling air balloons and teddy bears. And, for the reason that late Eighties, a collection of ceremonial ‘trophy trunks’ that are used to move the sporting world’s largest prizes (the primary was an epi blue leather-based trunk in 1988 for the America’s Cup, the world’s oldest worldwide sporting trophy). So the tagline goes: ‘Victory travels in Louis Vuitton’.

This weekend in Melbourne, Australia, the home continued its partnership with the Australian Open, making a pair of bespoke monogrammed trunks to accommodate the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup and Norman Brookes Problem Cup, that are awarded to the tennis grand slam’s girls’s and males’s singles winners respectively. On Saturday evening at Rod Laver Area, in a three-set thriller outlined by shifts in momentum between the gamers, Kazakhstan nationwide Elena Rybakina, a former Wimbledon champion, beat world primary Aryna Sabalenka (and four-time grand slam winner) to the primary main of the yr.

In the meantime, earlier this night, again at Rod Laver Area, Spanish tennis wunderkind Carlos Alcaraz – himself a Louis Vuitton ambassador – triumphed in a tense four-set match in opposition to Novak Djokovic, a fantastic of the sport whose 24 grand slam titles have cemented him as probably the most adorned males’s participant of tennis’s up to date period (in sporting parlance: the GOAT). An emotional Djokovic praised Alcaraz’s efficiency as ‘legendary’, whereas additionally shouting out his former rival, Rafa Nadal, who watched on from the gang.

‘What you are doing is actually inspiring, not just for the tennis gamers, however for any athlete or particular person world wide,’ Alcaraz mentioned in his winner’s speech, addressing Djokovic. ‘For me, it has been an honour sharing the locker room [with you], sharing the courtroom and watching you play.’ Although the Spanish world primary was making historical past of his personal: at simply 22 years outdated, Alcaraz is the youngest ever to attain a profession grand slam, a file which has held since 1938 (he beat out Don Budge by simply days). ‘No one is aware of how laborious I’ve been working to get this trophy,’ he continued.

The trunks had been every created in the home’s historic atelier in Asnières-sur-Seine, which is now primarily utilized by the 300-or-so-artisans who work on particular commissions reminiscent of these (simply north of Paris, the suburb is the place Louis Vuitton moved his enterprise in 1859 after outgrowing his retailer within the centre of the town). In differing sizes – the ladies’s trophy is taller than the lads’s – the 2 trunks are encased in the home’s signature monogram canvas and have a contrasting V emblem, standing for each ‘Victory’ and ‘Vuitton’.

Although the trunk can be a practical object: inside, a microfibre insert in ‘Australian Open blue’ (anyone who has watched the event shall be accustomed to the intense oceanic hue) retains the trophy protected and in place when being carried or in transit (‘AO on the Highway’ sees the trophy tour across the native state of Victoria earlier than the event’s begin). In the meantime, plenty of intricate lozines, locks and clasps – actual variations of these initially utilized by Louis Vuitton himself within the 1860s – maintain the trunk tightly sealed.

A lot in order that these tasked with opening the trunk at every ultimate needed to endure a rehearsal earlier within the day (the assorted clasps should be opened in a selected order; for the Australian Open, it was completed in unison in pairs). On the girls’s ultimate, it was the flip of BamBam – a Thai pop sensation and Louis Vuitton ambassador – alongside American tennis participant Jennifer Capriati, who received the Australian Open in 2001 and 2002 (marking 25 years since her first win on the occasion, she additionally introduced Rybakina with the trophy on the winner’s ceremony). In the meantime, tonight, actress Chloë Grace Moretz, one other home ambassador, and Russian tennis participant Marat Safin, who received the Australian Open in 2005, did the honours, opening the trunk simply previous to the lads’s ultimate’s begin.

They’re simply one in every of an extended line of trophy trunks Louis Vuitton has created to bolster its connections to the sporting world – alongside the Australian Open and the America’s Cup, customized trunks have been created for the FIFA World Cup, the NBA, the Paris 2024 Olympics and Roland Garros. Extra just lately, Louis Vuitton created the 2025 and 2026 trophy trunks for every of Formulation 1’s 24 worldwide circuits, a transfer which coincided with LVMH’s main 10-year sponsorship of the occasion (the posh conglomerate is the mum or dad firm of Louis Vuitton). As a part of this, Louis Vuitton was named the title sponsor of the Melbourne Grand Prix, the primary race of the season, whereas in 2026, the home can even change into the title sponsor of the Monaco Grand Prix. The brand new season will start this March on the Melbourne Grand Prix circuit.