200 Trunks, 200 Visionaries: The Exhibition Makes its Final Stop in New York City

Pearl Fontaine

25 October 2022

Louis Vuitton’s “200 Trunks, 200 Visionaries: The Exhibition” opened in New York this month, following iterations in Asinières, Singapore, and Los Angeles. The experience first conceived in 2021 for Monsieur Louis Vuitton’s bicentennial birthday culminates in its final form at the former home of Barneys New York, where four floors have been transformed with an experiential display of the Louis Vuitton universe—centered around 200 unique trunks designed by 200 visionary creatives.

While the focal point of the presentation is the series of re-imagined trunks—each measuring 50 x 50 x 100 centimeters after the house’s original design from the 1850s—the experience begins upon entering, where a giant Monsieur Louis greets visitors from a robotic stack of digital trunks. From there, the exhibition unfolds through a series of thematic rooms and spaces spread across three floors. In a futuristic room enclosed in metal is a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of trunks from names like Gigi Goode, Jean Larivière, and Mimosa Echard. Then, a space fashioned like a warehouse environment sends viewers on a journey abroad.

Installation view, “200 Trunks, 200 Visionaries: The Exhibition,” photo by Jason Crowley/BFA.com, courtesy of Louis Vuitton.

On the second floor are contributions like by the French pilot and inventor Franky Zapata’s hovering trunk, or a whimsical room dedicated to the Brooklyn Balloon company by Robert Moy, where an epoxy-painted balloon trunk is surrounded by an assemblage of even more of the floating orbs. From Refik Anadol is a digital “Data Fabric” trunk design utilizing machine intelligence, while 1024 architecture’s François Wunschel and Pier Schneider have imagined a special UV-illuminated Damier check for their project. Also on this level are trunks by Peter Marino and Frank Gehry, following collaborations with names like Nigo, Supreme, Alex Israel, Fornasetti, and Gloria Steinem on the third floor in a dreamscape of scenography.

Special to the exhibition’s New York edition is “The Residency,” found on the basement level, in which the maison’s own Visual Image Studio team works in-residence through the months of November and December conceiving exhibition window displays. Also worth a visit are a revival of the iconic Freds eatery on the building’s ninth floor, which sees a special Freds x Louis partnership bringing back menu favorites for the run of the show, and a gift shop on the ground floor, where visitors can shop exhibition collectibles and an array of leather goods, books, and accessories.

“200 Trunks, 200 Visionaries: The Exhibition” is on view through December 31, 2022.