Sultan Abrulhamid II, the last Sultan of the Ottoman Empire was a fan of Vuitton and the Vuitton Archive have an example of the striped trunk that they created for him in 1886 to carry his underwear. The trunk is lined in gilt tooled red Moroccan leather with a series of drawers and a drop-down front. It is beautifully illustrated in “100 Legendary Trunks” recently published by Louis Vuitton – the seminal work on their luggage.

Charles de Beistegui, the son of a Mexican silver baron, who had commissioned Le Corbusier to design an apartment for him on the Champs Elysées in 1929, also travelled with his father’s striped Vuitton trunk and this can also be found in the Vuitton Archive.

Louis Vuitton Wardrobe Trunk c.1930

This unusual hanging wardrobe trunk dates from the 1930′s and would have been intended for the ocean liners that traversed the Atlantic. First Class passengers were allowed 200 kilograms of luggage in the hold but surprisingly only one trunk and hand-luggage in their cabin. This trunk has an idiosyncratic wavy stripe to personalise it which is most unusual.

It costs £16,000.

These are part of our extensive collection of vintage Louis Vuitton trunks available at Gieves and Hawkes.

Bibliography: Louis Vuitton: 100 Legendary Trunks by Pierre Léonforte – Éric Pujalet-Plaà  Publisher: Abrams

Louis Vuitton striped cabin trunk c. 1880

We have amongst our collection at Gieves and Hawkes a wonderful and rare Louis Vuitton trunk in the striped woven cotton. Vuitton only produced the stripe from 1872 until 1888 replacing it with the more familiar Damier pattern. It is rather a connoisseur’s piece. The cabin trunk has the perfect combination of full leather trim and exceptional quality brass handles. The ‘T’ shaped lock, numbered 1228, was the precursor of the five lever lock that Vuitton introduced in 1890. The interior label is numbered 23652. It’s the perfect size for a low coffee table and has been relined in alcantara.

The trunk costs £10,500