By the connoisseurs, for the connoisseurs

Staying true to the Louis Vuitton heritage, clients are invited to choose their adventure with the freedom to customise their own handbag based on their exotic leather of choice, in the shape of their desires, namely the Capucines, City Steamer, Twist, and Petite Boite Chapeau.

The worldly voyage takes off with prized leather procured from all over the world, like South Asia, Africa and America. Only the best leather is selected from Singapore’s Heng Long Tannery, the world’s most respectable tannery and vanguard of wildlife conservation. 

Skins are purified with mineral tanning for 2 months, before Louis Vuitton’s specialists make the first stringent selection. Aside from crocodilian skin, exotic skins that make the cut include python and lizard, too.

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Priming the canvas

The creation of each bag is a drawn-out one, a manyfold process that takes place at the Louis Vuitton atelier. To make one bag, artisans and craftsmen work on 3-5 unblemished crocodile belly skins over a span of 10 weeks, tanning, dyeing and nourishing them. This is followed with a further 6 weeks to colour, nourish and buff before the bag crafting commences. As for hardware and parts, the handle of the Capucines itself takes 4 hours to make.

To obtain that glossy finish of the skins, artisans employ the au naturale use of agate stone, carefully and repeatedly until the surface is polished to a high-grade sheen.

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Wealth of colours

From texturised to matte, and bold to metallic, there’s a trove of colours to dress your bag in. Silvery tones endow an allure on the exotics, sported on a sumptuous python leather in natural and silver versions, steely crocodilian leather in a shiny raisin hue, and even a hand-sprayed metallic finish.

For the vivacious at heart, statement colours of golden brass embellish crocodilean, while intense Saphir blue and red Rubis add a pop of colour to alligator leather. A nod to understated elegance is in the classic black, for day-to-night functionality. 

With the free reign to craft your own Louis Vuitton exotic from start to finish, your personal story is in a token handbag that will stand the test of time.

Photography: Soon Lau / Awesome Image Studio

Styling: Sarah Saw