Rolling Trunks

Louis Vuitton teams up with industrial designer Marc Newson once again for a second luggage collaboration. Terence Lim takes a closer look at the Horizon Soft collection.

- Terence Lim

’IM A FREQUENT TRAVELLER SO I know what I want my luggage to do [for me], and I don’t think I’m alone,” says renowned industrial designer Marc Newson. And it is with this jet-setting lifestyle in mind that he designed the Louis Vuitton Horizon Soft, a new range of rolling luggage, which will hit stores this month.

This is the second luggage project that the Australian creative mind and the French luxury maison have collaborated on, following the Horizon collection in 2016. “After starting with hard luggage where the parameters are naturally more defined and rigid, we have embarked upon stage two, which is the soft version,” he says. “I had to identify a suitable technology to give the project validity; I had to have a reason, something really compelling to kick the project off.”

By technology, Newson is referring to how the outer shell of the Horizon Soft luggage is made. It is produced using thermo-formed 3D knit with double-sided jacquard that features Newson’s take on Louis Vuitton’s signature Monogram motif. The knit is created using seamless knitting technology, a production process that Newson tailored with the manufacturer to the specific needs of the brand. Even the yarn is specifically made for the French luxury giant, featuring elastic and thermo-fusible threads.