We unravel the story behind the new cat-inspired collaboration between two fashion titans: Louis Vuitton and Grace Coddington
If there’s anyone who knows a thing or two about travelling in style, it is, of course, Grace Coddington. During her decades at the fashion industry’s helm, the field-championing stylist, creative director and British Vogue contributing editor has seen all four corners of the world, putting together fashion history-making imagery while maintaining her own emblematic look wherever on the planet she may be.
And if there’s a fashion house that knows a thing or two about travelling in style, it is, of course, Louis Vuitton. Founded by a top-notch trunk-maker in 1854, taking to the road (or sea or sky, for that matter) is embedded in the French maison’s DNA, often serving as the dream fuel for its collections.
Courtesy of Louis Vuitton.
The collaboration between these two fashion titans, then, feels like kismet. But there’s more than a simple love of travel that binds the flame-haired stylist and the heritage brand. Indeed, Coddington and Nicolas Ghesquière, Louis Vuitton’s longstanding women’s creative director, are dear friends and collaborators – the most recent testament to their creative partnership (well, prior to this) seen on the cover of American Vogue’s September issue, where Coddington styled Emma Stone in a custom Louis Vuitton couture collection designed by Ghesquière.
The superfans and sharper minds among you, though, will recall that the pair previously collaborated on Catogram, a ready-to-wear and accessories capsule that featured joyful illustrations of Coddington’s cats, Blanket and Pumpkin, and Nicolas’s dogs Achille and Léon. “That was about five years ago,” Coddington recalls over the phone from New York. “Time really flies, but we had so much fun working on that, and Nicolas kept mentioning that we should do another.”
That moment has finally come with the arrival of the latest iteration of Louis Vuitton Travels With…, which sees Coddington present her dream travel wardrobe – replete with depictions of her cats, Blondie, Blanket and Jimi, of course. “Last time, there were cats wherever you looked! My main thing is cats, but people can have too much of them… I mean, I can’t,” she laughs, “but for a big company like Louis Vuitton, they might not want more and more cats, so we had to think about how we could take this in a different direction.”
Courtesy of Louis Vuitton.
The answer, then, was to focus on a pared-back wardrobe offering that intuitively takes to the road – “clothes that are easy to travel in and easy to pack,” she says. A key jumping-off point was the nipped, 1940s-style dress silhouette that has long been a fixture of her wardrobe. “When Nicolas said, ‘Why don’t you do some dresses?’, it was music to my ears!” she says, noting how this then built out into an array of sweaters, cardigans and, of course, the louche silk pyjamas that are synonymous with Coddington’s personal style.
Throughout, pieces are decorated with trunk patch-like emblems of Coddington’s beloved moggies on adventures that would make any human traveller envious – London, Sydney, the Amazon… even outer space! “Well, I’m someone who likes to fantasise a lot and I always dream that I could bring my cats along wherever I go,” she says. “Obviously, I can’t, but for this collaboration, I created labels that you’d stick onto a suitcase back in the day, which they then printed onto silk pyjamas and dressing gowns.”
Courtesy of Louis Vuitton.
Courtesy of Louis Vuitton.
While her cats may not be able to travel with her, Coddington’s life remains very much on the go. I’m curious, then, what her top travel style tips are. “You have to have a carry-on wheelie bag” – options for which you’ll naturally find in the collection. “I was determined to put my money where my mouth is,” she chuckles. “Ever since I got mine many years ago, I have never taken a bigger bag with me. Everything has to fit into that and a little handbag – even if for a week in Paris.”
“Always keep it light,” she adds. “Separates are great, because you can interchange things, and it appears that you have a bigger wardrobe than you do. And work out your shoes very carefully! They can weigh very heavily, and they take up a lot of space.” With fashion month on our doorstep, we’ll be abiding by Grace Coddington’s gospel to a tee – Louis Vuitton wheelie bag in hand and all.
Courtesy of Louis Vuitton.
Louis Vuitton Travels with Grace Coddington collection is available at www.louisvuitton.com