Louis Vuitton launches new NFT, a virtual trunk costing 6,000 euros

Louis Vuitton is continuing its Web3 journey with a new NFT. It’s the VIA Tile Trunk, a miniature virtual trunk designed by Nicolas Ghesquière, the creative director of the women’s collections for the LVMH group’s flagship fashion house. For this digital creation, he drew inspiration from the model of his trunk-shaped mini cube bag, unveiled at the Spring-Summer 2024 fashion show in September.

The 200 editions of this digital collectible (or NFT), are priced at 6,000 euros and are reserved exclusively for the brand’s VIA customers, a programme it launched in June 2022. This is the first major project dedicated to Web3 to be carried out directly by the brand, leading it to sell digital products for the first time in its history. Until now, it had only made rare forays into this field, in the e-sports sector, via a partnership with the League of Legends game in 2019, and through the Louis The Game video game, launched in 2021, with a very first series of NFTs, which were not marketed.
 
With VIA, Louis Vuitton has devised a route to reach a new target group of customers through a 360-degree project involving its digital, communications and sales teams, not forgetting the legal side. Louis Vuitton set out to build “a new journey combining the best of both worlds, that of Web 3 and that of the brand,” between the digital and physical dimensions. “The main challenge is to extend the in-store experience for customers into a world where there is no boundary between the physical and the digital,” explains Agnès Vissoud, director of digital innovation, on the brand’s website.

Last June saw the launch of the VIA Malle Trésor, available in a limited edition of just a few hundred and priced at 39,000 euros. This trunk gives its owners access to new products and experiences in limited editions as part of immersive launches. “The world of VIA will reveal its wonders through a series of digital keys that owners of a Treasure Trunk will be able to acquire. These keys will enable them to unlock the brand’s new, never-seen-before collectibles,” explained the brand at the launch of this highly exclusive project.

All digital collectibles are associated with physical products, which NFT owners can claim. In the case of the model VIA Tile Trunk, designed by Nicolas Ghesquière, its physical version will be available in March 2024.

The idea is to offer two or three of these products a year, at least for the next three years, says Louis Vuitton on its website. The first launch took place in July with the Speedy 40 VIA bags designed by Pharrell Williams, the creative director of the men’s collections.