FERNANDO & HUMBERTO CAMPANA LOUIS VUITTON OBJETS NOMADES

"Travel offers the unique opportunity to embark on a new adventure".

The creative duo formed by Fernando and Humberto Campana creates modern classic from 1983: their originality is based on looking beyond the usual, in order to capture the beauty of everyday. Using unexpected materials and colors in surprising ways, they're able to make the ordinary extraordinary and to bring out the beauty of simplicity. Since 2002 the Estudio Campana, their brand based in São Paulo, produces its own line of products and unique handmade pieces. The works of the two brothers can be seen in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Centre Pompidou in Paris, the Vitra Design Museum in Weil am Rhein or the Museum of Modern Art in São Paulo. They were also honored as Designers of the Year at Design Miami 2008, at Maison & Objet in Paris in 2012 and they have received a special award at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris in 2012.

Fernando and Humberto Campana have collaborated with Louis Vuitton in the creation of two objects for the Objets Nomade collection: the Cocoon and the Maracatu.

1# Cocoon

The Cocoon, swinging gently from its gilded steel and brass hook, becomes an invitation to while away the day. A delicately perforated pod, the Cocoon adds the latest technology to Louis Vuitton’s traditional leather savoir-faire thanks to a frame made using high-tech stereolithography – a form of 3D printing – which is then covered with red calfskin on the exterior and quilted leather on the inside. With its broadcloth-covered cushions that are both warm and comforting, the Cocoon is like a protective shell designed to enfold, envelop and reassure.

2# Maracatu

The Maracatu is a unique cabinet de voyage: a foldaway, portable travel cabinet that uses recycled leather of fcuts from the Louis Vuitton Haute Maroquinerie workshop in Asnières, near Paris. Evoking flamboyant folk costumes worn during parades in the Brazilian state of Pernambuco, it perfectly combines the spirit of the brothers’ homeland with Louis Vuitton’s savoir-faire, craftsmanship and love of travel.

In the finest traditions of the House this new vision of exuberant refinement is both beautiful and practical: it contains three shelves, while a hook allows it to be hung up wherever the journey leads – whether the rainforest or a favourite hotel.

Why did you agree to create an Objet Nomade for Louis Vuitton?

Firstly, for the opportunity to explore the Louis Vuitton universe. Secondly, to send a message about unique ways of working with recycled materials.

What did you consider first: form or function?

Both. We always imagine and consider the function and the form of an object. The Maracatu, for example, would be like a dreamed-of but unlikely encounter between fashion and design, part artwork, part object.

How did you work with the Louis Vuitton workshops’ savoir-faire?

Our work incorporates the idea of transformation and reinvention. The Maracatu, for example, uses recycled leather of fcuts from the workshop and stands at the threshold between tradition and innovation. We were impressed with the archive of materials, as well as the artisans’ ability to detect distinct colours in the leather and to assemble various pieces in slightly dif ferent shades to achieve the ef fect of a specific colour.