louis vuitton & marc newson plant removable leather storage cubes in 'cabinet of curiosities'

Marc newson and his cabinet of curiosities

Louis Vuitton and Marc Newson have paired up again to reimagine the Maison’s iconic traveler’s trunk into a set of whimsical cabinets shaped like luggage and defined by colorful, modular design. Presented during Milan Design Week 2023, ‘Cabinet of Curiosities’ pays homage to Louis Vuitton’s recognizable trunk while infusing the technicolor nuances of Marc Newson’s visual vernacular. Outside, the monogrammed trunk attracts attention with its renowned pattern and lush earthly color, a prelude to the burst of colors waiting inside.

The moment the traveler zips down Cabinet of Curiosities, 19 colorful removable leather storage cubes invite them to play with the space and identify the kind of arrangement that suits their taste. Each trunk is handmade in Louis Vuitton’s workshop in one of three colorways: VVN (natural) leather, yellow, and the tricolor of red, blue, and green.

‘Quality, execution, particular savoir-faire, without any compromise. It’s a simple idea, a utilitarian and iconic object that gives the user the opportunity to do whatever they want with it. Each one of these is its own container, living by itself. The Cabinet of Curiosities, a container of memories, in three variations. They could be anything, which is symbolic to you as a collector. Even if you’re not a collector, you can do whatever you want with it,’ says Newson.

images courtesy of Louis Vuitton

first Louis Vuitton trunk with a 180-degree opening

Marc Newson says that the iconic trunk of Louis Vuitton is an object that retains iconography. ‘I wanted to reverse the context: it is not about the piece traveling, but the items displayed in the trunk having traveled and meaning something to you,’ he says. While the traditional exterior of the piece was largely predetermined, Marc was given full creative control for the interior of Cabinet of Curiosities, a chance he took to reverse the traditional idea of a cabinet.

The luggage-cabinet is the first Louis Vuitton trunk engineered to allow for a 180-degree opening, and once opened it features 19 leather cubes of three sizes. Each cube is removable, and the internal arrangement can be reconfigured over a thousand ways. The smallest cubes can even be reversed and have a hinged door on one side that flaps open, behind which objects can be concealed. Newson’s concept inverts this idea of a cabinet, offering a blank space for storing or displaying whatever the user likes.

Cabinet of Curiosities in yellow