“We decided we wanted to do something very pretty, and very gentle, and very loving, and just fill it with pretty colors and beautiful light, luminous textures, things that were translucent and transparent. We wanted to define the body and to create shapes, but have air and lightness and softness,” said Marc Jacobs backstage after his Spring/Summer 2012 fashion show for Louis Vuitton

The season’s Leather Goods translate this light, airy spirit, in soft shapes and sorbet shades, and though – as with the ready-to-wear – there are echoes of the strict, fetish-inspired Fall/Winter 2011 collection, notably in the spotlight turned once again on the iconic Lockit bag, the result is quite different.

Monogram Transparent

The Spring/Summer 2012 fashion show opened with variations of the Lockit in sheer nylon voile. Three shapes – a dainty clutch, the classic Lockit and the stretched Lockit East-West – are embroidered inside and out with the Monogram pattern and trimmed with white leather, creating a pure white-on-white look that is one of the key directions of the season.

Monogram Transparent Lockit Clutch
Price: US$1880

Monogram Transparent Lockit
Price: US$3450

Monogram Transparent Lockit East-West
Price: US$3600

Basket

In a variation on the theme of transparency, and in keeping with the sweetly naïve spirit of the season, humble basket bags are elevated to luxury status in metallic patent calfskin, which is simultaneously perforated and embossed to create a three-dimensional effect. Just in case its owner has anything to hide, each basket contains a removable drawstring pouch in tonal jacquard woven with the Monogram pattern.

Mini Basket
Color: Reef
Price: US$2660

Basket
Colors: Rose, Nougat
Price: US$3150

Mama

An equally sweet, feminine theme has a neat day-to-night pochettes in sky blue or eggshell yellow lambskin swinging from dainty silver chains – bright silver having replaced gold this season as the finish of choice for leather goods and accessories. The butter-soft lambskin is embroidered with the Monogram pattern in tiny cross-stitches, and on the first of two limited editions, the motif is then re-embroidered by hand with translucent glass beads. For the second limited edition, the pochette is rendered in pale, whitewashed crocodile. In each case, the flap is fastened by a tiny silver S-lock – a miniaturized version of the one that has secured Louis Vuitton trunks since the 19th century – which is one of the season’s emblematic details.

Mama Broderie Pochette
Colors: Ivoire, Bleu, Jaune
Price: US$3800

Mama Perles Pochette
Colors: Porcelaine, Jaune
Price: US$6250

Mama Croco Pochette
Colors: Bleu, Jaune
Price: US$18,850

Bonded

A second pochette shape on a silver chain comes in two-tone bonded leather, a combination of deerskin and lambskin for a uniquely soft, supple feel. In each case, a strong shade is accented by one of the season’s ice cream pastels – coral with vert d’eau, navy with powder pink, ceramic with soft green – on the inside of the bag and on an outsize zipper pull, which clicks into a tiny silver S-lock on the side.

Bonded Pochette
Colors: Ceramique, Corail, Nuit
Price: US$2970

Monogram Denim

If the Fall/Winter 2011 collection was all about the Lockit, Spring/Summer 2012 brings the Speedy back into the spotlight, though always as a softer, plumper variation of itself. In a casual spirit, a pochette and two sizes of top-handle, all with a removable shoulder strap, come in a pale stonewashed denim woven with the Monogram pattern in silver thread.

Monogram Denim Speedy Squat Pochette
Colors: Jaune, Bleu
Price: US$2030

Monogram Denim Speedy Squat MM
Colors: Jaune, Bleu
Price: US$2820

Monogram Denim Speedy Squat GM
Color: Bleu
Price: US$3300

Monogram Bouclettes

This variation of the classic Speedy is reminiscent of the Fall/Winter 2011′s Monogram Fascination. Soft patent lambskin in pastel colors with delicate matte Monogram pattern embroidery creates an exquisite blend of textures.

Monogram Bouclettes Speedy
Colors: Mint, Rose, Perle
Price: US$4200

Suship

This curvaceous Speedy is rendered in supple clafskin in a classic summery combination of navy and white.

Suship Speedy North-South
Price: US$4700

Les Extraordinaires Crocodile

Reinterpreted with a flap and in precious crocodile with a vintage, whitewashed patina, the Crocodile Old Speedy Flap is also the first of the season’s two Les Extraordinaires, available in a strictly limited, numbered edition.

Crocodile Old Speedy Flap
Colors: Mint, Nuit, Jaune
Price: US$33,000

Les Extraordinaires Coquille D’Oeuf

The ultimate object of desire – and the emblem of the entire elaborately crafted collection – is a dainty minaudière, its Monogram mosaic painstakingly pieced together for over 600 hours from 12,500 fragments of eggshell. A metaphor indeed for the care and craftsmanship lavished on this collection.

Coquille D’Oeuf
Price: US$101,000

Images via Louis Vuitton

“Disney’s “It’s a Small World” was playing at Louis Vuitton’s presentation. It’s a fitting message; few brands have the global reach of this powerhouse. For pre-fall, design director Julie de Libran opted to expand on the house codes established since Marc Jacobs moved in and began designing ready-to-wear for the company nearly 14 years ago. And she did that through the lens of Charlotte Perriand, the late architect and designer who’s as well-known in France for her personal style as for her prodigious output between the wars.

That meant that the clothes had a vaguely 1940′s feel, with menswear checks bonded to duchesse satin to produce the softened, slightly rounded shapes of car coats and skirtsuits. It also gave de Libran a reason to put a military spin on the proceedings. Trompe l’oeil frogging details dressed up both a baby-doll dress belted high on the waist and a princess coat. As for other house codes, the iconic Stephen Sprouse leopard print made an encore performance on a sharp mohair jacquard pantsuit. The charm factor was high here—see the studded and grommeted berets and the shoes with tufts of fur spilling out. Most important to the brand, however, is the reintroduction of the Papillon bag. Now in a mini size, the cylindrical tote came “debossed” with the LV logo. The world is full of embossed monogram bags, after all.” – Nicole Phelps, Style.com

Images via Louis Vuitton

The Maison Louis Vuitton revisits the business bag, offering two new elegant and contemporary styles for men in iconic Taiga leather: the Néo-Igor and its big brother Néo-Alexander.

For the very first time, the Maison is offering the opportunity to customise not only the exterior of your bag but also the interior to match travellers’ needs. For the Made To Order program, Taiga, the first men’s signature leather created in 1993, is proposed in a rich palette of four colors –Ardoise, Grizzli, Boréal and Glacier. Each of them can be associated with one of the four new colors of lining – burgany, brown, navy and black.

The Maison also offers the freedom of arranging the interior of your bag to correspond to your personal use, with a choice of four pockets designed to hold the business essentials such as a laptop, smart phone, iPad, documents, business cards or a clean spare shirt. The Louis Vuitton Taiga Made To Order service offers the possibility to add or remove the outside leather strap for attaching the bag to the Pegase suitcase and/or a shoulder strap.

In order to offer an unique bag, each owner can have his name laser-engraved on a leather patch in the inside. Totally in tune with modern man’s needs, thanks to more than 2500 combinations, the Néo-igor and the Néo-Alexander are the perfect expression of the Maison’s desire to meet the invidual needs of the most demanding travellers, whether city dwellers or globetrotters.

The Taiga journey continues.

Taïga Néo-Igor (left) & Taïga Néo-Alexander (right) in Ardoise

Video via Louis Vuitton

Images via Louis Vuitton