Luxury Feeling the Crunch

Luxury is finally feeling it, and the economy is only to blame. High-end labels have been forced to lower prices in order to keep consumers buying. Louis Vuitton is reducing their prices on leather goods, accessories, ready-to-wear, watches, and jewelry on an average of 7% for the holidays. The company feels that this price reduction is more suitable and appropriate due to the current state of the economy. Louis Vuitton is not the only premium brand that is feeling this way. Christian Dior is planning on lowering its prices in Japan along with Vuitton. Let’s hope that times get better for our beloved fashion houses, but for the time being make sure you get out there while prices are low and shop!
-Jackie Medler

Nordstrom Loves Louis

Nordstrom is easily our favorite place to shop for jeans, and now you can go get a pair of Paige Denim, and check out Louis Vuitton’s Patchwork Denim bags all in one store (or at least attempt a waitlist).

Say hello to Louis Vuitton’s third Michigan Avenue boutique, a 2,000-square-foot expanse of leather goods, sunglasses, ties, and lots and lots of shoes, located right across from the designer shoe department on Nordstrom’s main floor.

This is Vuitton’s first department store collaboration since 1995 (with Bloomingdale’s New York), but the French house believes they will target a particular, thriving consumer group. “We recognize that clients are very loyal to their department stores," Daniel Lalonde, president and CEO of Louis Vuitton North America Inc., told the Chicago Tribune.

The partnership is unusual for Nordstrom, a retailer that normally does not lease space within stores. However, Nordstrom is expanding its luxury designer business, and no brand wields more label power than Vuitton.

"We want to try to send a signal that this represents the best of what customers can buy anywhere from anybody and who better than Vuitton to send that signal?” said president of merchandising Peter Nordstrom. “It's new for us, and it's special.”
-Grace Bahk

Comme des Garcons for Louis Vuitton and Kanye Too!

We’re all counting down the days until November’s H&M launch of the Comme des Garçons line. But September brings a collaboration even more fabulous – Comme des Garçons and Louis Vuitton.

The two powerhouses are opening shop in Tokyo for three months this fall, where Comme founder Rei Kawakubo will design six Vuitton-monogrammed bags. Vuitton’s chairman and chief executive Yves Carcelle told The New York Times that the collaboration is the perfect celebration of the company’s 30-year anniversary in Japan.

Marc Jacobs is also looking forward to this partnership. “It is impossible to overstate Rei Kawakubo's influence on modern fashion,” he said. “I find it wonderful to think that 30 years ago, this immense talent, someone who has inspired so many others, was inspired by Louis Vuitton."

And if this isn’t excitement enough, WWD just reported that another Vuitton collaboration is in the works – with Kanye West. The hip-hop star, who recently performed at Vuitton’s “Brooklyn Ball” bash for Takashi Murakami’s exhibit on counterfeits, announced a future men’s shoes line for the fashion house.
-Grace Bahk

The Coppola's Vuitton

Louis Vuitton has a new ad campaign featuring filmmakers and father and daughter duo Francis Ford Coppola and Sofia Coppola. Shot in the countryside of beautiful Buenos Aires by Annie Leibovitz, this breathtaking ad is both visual and dynamic. Pietro Beccari, Louis Vuitton Senior VP of Communication and Marketing, explains the new campaign. "This beautiful visual is a significant new addition to the core values campaign. Not only does it capture the unique quality of a father-daughter relationship, in which both are enriched by a shared experience, but it also evokes the heritage of Louis Vuitton with its suggestion of know-how being passed from one generation to the next."