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COURTESY IMDB S ome patterns transcend their original purpose. Louis Vuitton's Monogram is one. Created by Georges Vuitton in 1896, the interlocking LV initials and floral motifs began as a defense against imitation. Over the next 130 years, they moved from steamer trunks to handbags, fashion, and contemporary art. Through every iteration, the composition has remained unmistakable. The Origins By the end of the 19th century, Louis Vuitton trunks had become desirable enough to attract imitators. Georges Vuitton introduced the Monogram in 1896, arranging his father's initials among diamonds and stylized flowers. Created four years after Louis Vuitton's death, it was both s i g n a t u r e a n d tribute. Its geometry reflected the visual The Mark of Vuitton 130 Years of the Monogram culture of the period: gothic quatrefoils and rosettes alongside the graphic economy of Japanese mon, or family crests. A Universal Canvas Louis Vuitton has never treated the Monogram as untouchable. Takashi Murakami gave it kaleidoscopic color. Yayoi Kusama covered it in dots. Rei Kawakubo cut through it. Frank Gehry turned it into a structural form. Jeff Koons introduced the Old Masters, while Urs Fischer distorted its familiar geometry. Each intervention proved the Monogram could absorb another creative language while maintaining its own identity. Still LV The Monogram has lived many lives. It traveled from trunks to ocean liners and airplanes, merged with the handbag, and collided with street culture. Yet the composition remains intact. One hundred and thirty years later, the pattern still reads simply: Louis Vuitton. By Steven Hempel. O ne of my rite-of-passage moments was seeing the 1995 film Unzipped. I was living in NYC for graduate school and headed with friends to a historic theater in the East Village to see the iconic documentary about Isaac Mizrahi baring his soul in the creative process. It opened my eyes to what was happening behind the scenes, like pulling back the curtain in The Wizard of Oz. This film reveals what was happening while the models dressed and makeup artists such as Kevyn Aucoin applied that last brush to a girl's lashes before she hit the runway. And by girls, I mean the supermodels of that era: Christy, Linda, Naomi, Kate, and Cindy. I watch Unzipped every few years to revive my excitement about fashion. That Fall 1994 collection still holds up today — the voluminous soigné skirts apropos for any ball, paired with puffy ski jackets and demure sequined slip dresses. Shalom Harlow careened down the runway with a videocam, filming an audience that included Richard Gere (Cindy Crawford's husband at the time), Eartha Kitt, Liza Minnelli, and Sandra Bernhard, who also has candid moments with Mizrahi in his design studio. If you didn't see it the first go- around, Janus Films has acquired the North American rights for the Douglas Keeve film, and a 4K restoration will air in NYC on Friday, September 25, followed by a nationwide release. Watch for fashion editors Candy Pratts Price's and Polly Allen Mellen's off-the- French-cuff opinions on the collection. Pratts Price eating in a deliberate manner while instructing the director, "This is off-camera"— in a voice once described by Zac Posen as a "lockjaw from Larchmont" — is worth the price of admission alone. Billy Fong Isaac Mizrahi and Cindy Crawford in Douglas Keeve's Unzipped 38 Catherine Deneuve Monogram Canvas hat trunk, 1912 @HECHT PHOTO FEATURESCAMERAPRESS