World Tour with Louis Vuitton

A unique collection of 3,000 hotel labels has trunk-maker and traveller Gaston-Louis Vuitton, grandson of Louis Vuitton, gathered throughout his life. Stuck to the luggage by hotel stuff for advertising purposes, these labels were witnesses to the wonderful, initiatory journeys of the owners of the trunks and made people dream of distant lands. Exotic, poetic, entertaining, over 1,000 labels from this fabulous collection are for the first time presented in the book World Tour: Vintage Hotel Labels from the Collection of Gaston-Louis Vuitton by Francisca Mattéoli, a passionate traveller and author of travel stories. From Paris to Rio de Janeiro, from London to Tokyo, they invite us on a journey around the world in twenty-one stopovers by following the course of the large steamships of the first half of the 20th century, the great era of travelling.

Courtesy of Louis Vuitton, I had the privilege to read an extract from the book: a symbol of the art of travelling, each label takes you back to a by-gone time concealing memories, anecdotes and stories: of the writers who sought for inspiration in far-away lands, actors and filmmakers, musicians, artists, aristocrats, intellectuals, adventurers who stayed in the world’s legendary hotels, all told on the background of those mythical places.

Gaston-Louis Vuitton was an enthusiast of literature and beautiful limited edition books. He founded three societies for book lovers and maintained a correspondence with the publishers, illustrators and writers of the time. Since its opening in 1914, the Champs-Élysées store has always provided its customers with a comfortable reading and correspondence lounge. This tradition continues today in the Maisons in Paris, Hong Kong, Taipei, London, Singapore and Rome where Louis Vuitton bookstores offer a fine selection of books on art, fashion, design and travel.

photos and source: courtesy of Louis Vuitton. You can read more about the author of the book and her impressive work on her website, Francisca Mattéoli.
The book is available for pre-order on Amazon.co.uk