Louis Vuitton lights up for Diwali

Luxury brand Louis Vuitton, synonymous with stylish travel, will be paying homage to India's biggest and brightest religious festival through specially-designed store windows, to be unveiled this week across the world.

Diwali goes global

Rajeev Sethi, a New Delhi-based artist and scenographer known for bringing contemporary relevance to the work of traditional artists and craftsmen, collaborated with Louis Vuitton to design the Diwali-themed window displays. 

From November 5 to mid January, all of Louis Vuitton's 454 stores spanning five continents will feature columns of trunks made of banana leaves, which will glow softly like lanterns and are "aimed to give passers-by the feeling of gaiety and festivity," says the company in a press statement.

This is the first time in the store's 156-year history that it will be celebrating a single festival on this scale.

Louis Vuitton also confirmed that the store windows will reman unchanged throughout Christmas, a bold move in Western cities where shops compete for the best seasonal display.

Louis Vuitton sari dress debut

What's more, Marc Jacobs is designing a limited edition of ready-to-wear sari dresses, using vintage sari material sourced from New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Madras and other cities in India. The pieces, which the company says form a collective tribute to the country's long tradition of craftsmanship and splendorous fabrics, will be sold exclusively (in size 38 only, mind you) at the Louis Vuitton Paris Montaigne store. 

Priyanka Chopra appears on the cover of this month's Vogue India in a colorful dress from the collection, called Louis Vuitton & Diwali. Supermodel Christy Turlington was also spotted wearing a dress from the long-awaited collection at the Biennale des Antiquaires, a rarefied antique art fair held in the grand palais in Paris.

The couture company has also created a new "Louis Vuitton fabric" especially for the occasion of Diwali. Designed by the Louis Vuitton studio, the fabric features a mix of Monogram flowers and Indian traditional motifs, and has been carefully woven by Indian craftsmen.

These fabrics will be transformed into three existing Louis Vuitton ready-to-wear pieces and a scarf, which represent a "delicate marriage of Indian heritage, know-how and Louis Vuitton creativity," and will be available for purchase worldwide says the company. 

Courting India

Louis Vuitton's Diwali celebration is yet another sign that India is commanding global respect due to its formidable economic performance in the past decade. In many ways, this India-focused store theme and collection represents a peak in its relationship with the country, which dates back to the 1920s when Maharajas placed special orders for their luxury leather trunks. 

Despite the historical link with Indian clientele, the first Louis Vuitton shop in the country only opened in 2003. Within seven years, the local network has grown to five stores in three major Indian hubs, and is still expanding. Despite the company's retail presence in India being nascent, the Diwali celebration signals clearly that Louis Vuitton is committed to us! 

"Louis Vuitton has always endeavored to be as close and involved with the India of today, the emerging economy that occupies an increasingly important place in the globalized world, as with traditional India, the country of exceptional arts, crafts and the written word," says a company statement.

It adds: "The decision to celebrate Diwali, the most joyous and vibrant Hindu festival, in all its stores across the world, was taken to specifically honor the common values that Louis Vuitton shares with India, the respect for tradition and the passion for innovation."