Art or Baggage: When is Louis Vuitton Luggage a Piece of Art?

Here at Fellows, we have a wide range of specialists with expert knowledge. One of our quickly growing departments is our Designer department. Our first Designer auction of 2019 saw a tremendous catalogue featuring 66 Louis Vuitton items, including 10 cases. At the time, it was the largest selection of Louis Vuitton cases to go under the hammer at Fellows. In the four years since this exciting auction, our designer department has continued to grow and with each auction, we excitedly welcome more Louis Vuitton items through our doors.

Luggage or Art?

Even though the interlocking L and V pattern is over 120 years old (it was designed in 1896, only 20 years after Fellows opened its doors), it makes any piece instantly recognisable as being made by one of the world’s most luxurious handbags and luggage makers.

Despite the clampdowns on luggage allowances when travelling, bidders cannot get enough of the iconic LV monogrammed hard luggage. The hard luggage range from the esteemed French fashion house is synonymous with extravagance and wealth, however, the price tags at Fellows are anything but. Not just the reserve of the jet-set, these brazen status symbols are being purchased by people with modest budgets and used in interesting ways.

Sophie Higgs, Specialist from Fellows, said: “From speaking to a lot of our buyers in the past, we have found that many of them don’t use pieces they have bought to go on holiday. They are more objets d’art to have in their dressing or bedrooms. Another fun way people have been using fashion pieces as art is hanging, and in some cases framing scarves. When you can pick up an Hermès scarf for £100 in one of our auctions, it is a very affordable way to get a piece of art. Considering that a decorative panel from Hermès is over £1,000, a scarf seems like a good workaround”.

Louis Vuitton at Auction

The allure of Louis Vuitton luggage has only grown over the years, both at Fellows and other renowned houses. An aluminium explorer trunk sold for £162,500 at Christie’s in December 2018 and the last Designer Collection saw a number of Louis Vuitton pieces sell for a total hammer price of £40,705.

Here are some items that would look just as good as interior decoration as they would on your arm: