Unique Minds 15: Louis Vuitton

Okay after a short hiatus I'm back with the 15th 'Unique Minds' blog. You might have realized that I've changed the name of the blog from 'The Internet Log' to 'Unique Minds', this is basically because my original idea for the blog has changed and it now focuses on a brand or designer each week rather than being just about jelno. I've called it 'Unique Minds' as the brands/ designers I talk about all have unique creative minds that allow them to express themselves in ways most people wouldn't ever think of.

The reason for the break is that I've basically been really busy; mock exams, submitting my uni applications, making a portfolio, trying to get the t-shirts produced, etc... and if I'm honest doing these Unique Minds blogs is actually pretty boring (and I've been doing it for my portfolio really) so I'll come out with new ones when I want to. and I'm gonna try and write a blog for 'Random' every day from now on though, I'll just be talking about everything jelno and beyond (music, fashion, films, art, but mostly just random boring shit.)

Also update on t-shirts: AHHHHHHH.

Its honestly been such a pain trying to get these t-shirts produced, I've been back and forth with this one company for literally 3 months trying to get them produced, and I finally thought I was getting a sample on Friday but at the last minute they said it had been sent off for embroidery >;(. So just a bit longer. It hurts how long they're taking to get done as it's just preventing jelno from growing and being the thing I want it to be. Hopefully though after there done things will start to be a bit easier.

Alright and now for the main blog, talking about LOUIS VUITTON.

I think one of the most impressive things about Louis Vuitton is the age of the brand. It started over 165 years ago! That's like older than the Queen, so pretty old. Seriously though I thought it started sometime in 1950 so hearing it started in 1854 was a shock. And even after all of those years, the brand is bigger and more relevant than ever with the core product, luggage trunks, still being a big part of the brand. That just shows the power of a timeless design- essentially the same design has been produced since the beginning and it stayed in style throughout all those years. I guess that's what you get when a product is very well made and careful management of the branding and exclusivity of the items.

The brand started in Paris, France and was founded by Louis Vuitton after he had moved to Paris at the age of 16, determined to make a better life for himself. He started as an apprentice box maker, and continued this line of work for 16 years and became highly sought after at that time. He eventually became the empress of Frances's official trunk maker and soon started his trunk making business, called Louis Vuitton. It's cool that Louis was able to make an incredibly successful business from literally nothing, humble beginnings. The empress of Frances's husband was Napoleon the third btw so she was a pretty big deal.

A war broke out and practically destroyed his workshop and business so he had to start from scratch, during this time he also managed to get a patent for his style of trunks as well as the now-famous Louis Vuitton monogram. From the very start people imitating the brand was a big problem and it's still fighting fakes and copies to this day.

The brand is focused on quality first and foremost, with only the finest materials being used, and each piece is made by master craftsmen (or women) with years of experience. Because of this, the brand has always been very expensive and exclusive, with only the rich being able to afford and wear the brand. 

Louis Vuitton has always tried to stay one step ahead of the game. They take great care when selecting designers and directors to work on projects to ensure they always have the latest technologies and they create new style trends. Like look at nearly any Louis Vuitton piece ever, practically every piece could be worn today or 20, 30 years ago with the same appeal, it never goes out of style. And this is because of the price and exclusivity each item contains, coupled with the insanely careful brand management over the entire companies history is the formula for a brand that nearly everyone on earth would want to wear. The brand has stores all over the world and is valued as the world's biggest luxury goods company. 

Now for the roast of LVMH:

Louis Vuitton paired with Moët Hennessy in 1987 to create the fashion empire LVMH. To this date, LVMH contains 75 of the world's biggest luxury item brands. I have mixed feelings about this. It really just feels that the luxury fashion market has turned into a factory for a profit with little real care for real creativity unless that creativity could breed more money. I understand that every business is there to make money at the end of the day (I want to make money with JELNO same as any other business) but being that big it just doesn't feel that any real passion would be put into each individual brand, and the reason they keep acquiring brands isn't because they truly believe they can make that brand into something special but its more about eliminating the competition. Like it would be practically impossible to create a luxury item company from the start in this day and age. And even if you get extremely lucky and some success comes out of it- as Virgil Abloh has done with Off-White- LVMH is still just around the corner to either buy that company, or in Virgils case, employ him which will simultaneously cause Off-White to lose value as Louis Vuitton benefits of one of the most influential fashion designers of the decade. That's not to say I don't like Louis Vuitton, I love nearly every design and what Virgil has done as creative director over the past 2 years is really nice. It's just hard to see the personality of a company that consists of 75 brands, and so it just seems like a soulless megacorporation. We need some more independent brands to go along with the big boys. Competition breeds creativity and success.

HOWEVER what LVMH has done is pretty epic, as nearly every brand in it is doing successfully and has improved since joining. I love what LVMH does for fashion especially, always trying to breed creativity and find new and talented designers that could bring something new to the table. Constantly innovating with design competitions and new technologies means LVMH is always on the forefront of the industry. 

I don't feel I can apply much from Louis Vuitton to JELNO as its almost too big. Any similarities would just get lost as it's unlike any other brand on the planet right now (in terms of different sections and different styles all forming a consistent brand image). I guess what I would do is apply timeless and quality designs to JELNO, making them interesting and always strive to innovate and be different. Louis Vuitton is still very heavily focused on quality leather goods which I wouldn't mind trying for JELNO in the future, most importantly you need to stick to your roots, and get heritage. 

See you next week with another blog, if you have any interest at all in JELNO try and spread the word as much as possible it's a massive help <3

If you ever want to ask a question or just get in touch the Instagram is: @jelno_uk, email is: jelno.uk@gmail.com and you can always comment down below.