Lines that moved the world: a look at the Louis Vuitton Art Déco exhibition

It started with the Historique section, which retraced the Vuitton family home and workshop in Asnières, where Gaston-Louis (grandson of the founder) grew up surrounded by the discipline of crafting: trunks, fittings, textiles—all evidence of the brand’s pursuit of functional grace. The next space, 1925: La Consécration, recreated Louis Vuitton’s original stand at the Paris Exposition. A reconstructed diorama evoked the Maison’s contribution to “Class 9”, dedicated to leather goods and travel trunks.

Subsequent rooms traced how Gaston-Louis’s curiosity transformed the Maison’s design ethos. Manifeste Art Déco showcased the ingenuity of early twentieth-century craftsmanship: wardrobe trunks and automobile cases whose engineering bordered on architecture. Élégance et Beauté shifted the focus towards personal accessories, including the Milano garment carrier and the Marthe Chenal case, designed for the French soprano and lined with flasks, brushes and mirrors. Everyday objects were reimagined as artefacts of taste.

Another gallery, L’Art des vitrines, reflected Gaston-Louis’s fascination with visual storytelling. In his Paris window displays, he treated light, structure and space as compositional tools, turning retail into theatre—a reconstructed display centred on the Champs-Élysées bag, an emblem of his instinct for narrative presentation. Nearby, rooms devoted to colour, material and advertising showcased the emergence of the brand’s visual language: an inclination to bold typography and stylised motifs. Meanwhile, the Couleurs, formes et matériaux room explored the visual language of Art Deco through colourful palettes, striking silhouettes and luxurious materials, continuing to inspire the House’s creative spirit. The exhibition then concluded with La Beauté en voyage, connecting Art Deco’s fascination with movement to Louis Vuitton’s lasting relationship with travel.

See also: Louis Vuitton chairs to Gucci wallpaper: 9 fashion brands with home décor items you don’t want to miss

Archival pieces from the 1920s sat alongside designs by Nicolas Ghesquière, Pharrell Williams, Marc Jacobs and Kim Jones—each interpreting the optimism and structure of the era through their own lens.

If the 1925 Exposition announced a new world, Louis Vuitton Art Déco reflected on the ideals that built it. It suggests that design, when pursued with intellect and intention, is never simply about the object itself, but about the ideas that give it form.

NOW READ

Louis Vuitton unveils La Beauté Louis Vuitton with legendary makeup guru Pat McGrath at its helm

Moreau Paris celebrates its 1882 Monogram with a new collection

Fashion Aid Philippines’s The Grant 2025 hails Deya Tsyna from Bohol as the winner