Louis Vuitton VIA
Louis Vuitton unveils VIA, the first digital trunk from the Maison.
Priced at €39,000 and limited to a few hundred pieces, the VIA Treasure Trunk acts as a portal into the world of Louis Vuitton. The trunk is a digital collectible that has a physical counterpart, a made-to-order trunk with a unique canvas not previously available from the luxury brand. Purchase of the Treasure Trunk grants access to the VIA community including new limited products through immersive drops, as well as exclusive in person events.
The VIA Treasure Trunk is a “soul-bound” NFT, meaning it is non-transferable. After acquiring a trunk, it is connected to your identity and cannot be sold to another person. However, future digital collectibles, which the Treasure Trunk gives access to purchase, will be transferable.
Louis Vuitton’s VIA website reads, “VIA insiders will also have the opportunity to co-create the next chapters and collectibles of the VIA experience. For now, the next journey is already announced: a collectible designed for Pharrell Williams' first Men's show in June, transcending the boundaries of the imagination.”
Pharrell Williams also happens to be the Chief Brand Officer for blue-chip NFT project Doodles. Curious if we’ll see any phygital collaborations between Louis Vuitton’s VIA and Doodles with Williams’ involvement in each.
The VIA Treasure Trunk is currently available in 7 countries: Canada, United-States, United-Kingdom, France, Germany, Japan, Australia. To purchase the trunk, you must first register to the waitlist. Participants will be informed of their selection June 12-16 and invited to the private sale on June 16 where they will be guided through an exclusive journey to acquire a bespoke VIA Treasure Trunk.
Invitee selection criteria (as listed on the VIA website FAQ) include crypto wallets that contain: digital collectibles from other LVMH brands; or other luxury brands or fashion brands; or blue-chip collections; a portfolio value over $1M (collectibles and cryptocurrency); or digital collectibles portfolio value over $200k. Louis Vuitton will accept cryptocurrency as well as major credit cards, PayPal, and ApplePay for the purchase.
Louis VIA Treasure Trunk eligibility criteria listed on VIA website FAQ
Over the past 2 years, I’ve had the immense honour and pleasure of working with Louis Vuitton on the brand’s bicentennial project “Louis 200.” In 2021, I was invited to reimagine the iconic trunk in Augmented Reality in celebration of Monsieur Louis Vuitton’s 200th birthday. My artwork appeared in Louis Vuitton store windows worldwide and was featured in the multi-year travelling exhibition “200 Trunks 200 Visionaries” in Paris, Singapore, Los Angeles, and New York City. My AR artwork will be on auction at Sotheby’s later this year with all proceeds to charity.
Helen Papagiannis Louis 200 AR Trunk on view in New York, NY
Helen Papagiannis Louis 200 AR Trunk on view in Los Angeles, CA
In 2020, Harvard Business Review invited me to write an article on AR and the future of retail. In addition to discussing how luxury brands like Louis Vuitton were implementing virtual try-on experiences with AR, I also foresaw the rise of digital collectibles and predicted a rise in saleable virtual goods. “But what if in addition to physical items, you could buy virtual objects, such as jewelry, apparel, or art, for which there may or may not be a physical counterpart? Here’s a speculative demo I created in 2019 imagining what that could look like in AR with Apple Pay.”
I can easily see Louis Vuitton’s VIA Treasure Trunk and digital collectibles being available in AR as USDZ files (as pictured in my speculative demo examples from 2019, above and below). In addition to using your iPhone, imagine being able to view and interact with your Louis Vuitton digital collectibles in AR through Apple’s Vison Pro (USDZ files are fully supported on Vision Pro).
Apple Vision Pro
Starting at $3,499 USD, Apple’s new spatial computing headset promises a luxury experience prime for Maisons like Louis Vuitton to immerse their customers in. I’ll be discussing this and more at the Financial Times “Future of Retail” event in London on September 19. Hope to see you there.
I consult and advise the world’s top brands on AR and Spatial Computing. Get in touch to learn more and/or book me as a keynote speaker for your next event.
