Louis Vuitton

Pre-Production

It’s always a pleasure when the first step in producing a corporate video involves book-based research. Our homework relied primarily on two massive tomes: Louis Vuitton: The Birth of Modern Luxury, and Louis Vuitton: 100 Legendary Trunks. The former charted the company through the lives of its first three leaders—founder Louis (inventor of the modern trunk), his son Georges, and his grandson Gaston. The latter was a definitive story of the creation of LV’s legendary travel luggage, taking in the revolution of the stackable flat-top trunk and the creation of LV’s instantly recognisable monogram canvas. It also included examples of devoted customers and their luggage - from the explorer Pierre S De Brazza, via Ernest Hemmingway to Elton John.

We had much of the material we needed. What we needed now was to carefully unpack it and, like for any successful adventure, map out a really good plan.

The conceit we developed was two parallel stories: an animation featuring some the brand’s notable historical clients across five eras from 1854 to the modern day, and specially-shot drama sequences illustrating five practical ways for today’s Sales Associates to develop contemporary client interaction.

Somehow these two different threads would need to knit together seamlessly.

Filming

For the specially-shot drama a tight crew was assembled - a DoP, Director, Assistant Producer, Gaffer, a Stylist provided by Louis Vuitton and Hair & Make-up. We cast two actors - the story’s couple - while an actual LV Sales Associate played herself. A member of LV’s training team was always on hand to keep us on brand. A number of locations in London were sourced and filming included an overnight shoot in LV's flagship Bond Street store. Corporate video production can be glamorous after all.

For the animated client heritage piece we developed the conceit of the Louis Vuitton Client Book, 1854 to the present day. Through the pages of this heavyweight encyclopedia, bound in the LV monogram, we could flick from client to client, pausing to enter their world and explore the theme of travel - from the trains and steam ships that transformed the 19th century to the ocean liners and private jets of the 20th century.

The animation was carefully researched and storyboarded, and approved by LVMH in three regions. The 2.5D animation style was designed with elegance and some wit. Much of the material came from the Louis Vuitton archives, though much needed to be sourced or created from scratch. Throughout the five sequences the viewer is taken on a journey, echoing the LV theme of travel, with quick transitions and text overlays to introduce each era we visit and the names of the illustrious clients.

Post-Production

An integral part of the Clientelling video is the transition in and out of live-action and animation scenes. These moments were carefully planned to make them feel natural and seamless, binding the two distinct storylines together until our new LV client takes her place in the Client Book. However, it was only in the post-production process, with all filming completed, that our graphics team were able to blend the live action shots with the end or start of their animation sequences. However good the planning and execution on a shoot, a little finesse is always required at this stage.

A specially composed music score was commissioned, in truth a rarity for a corporate video. The underlying refrain needed to work across five eras from the Belle Epoque, through the Roaring Twenties to the Naughties, while giving each era a distinct feel with a nod to the music of its time. Our brilliant composer, James Burrell, carried this off with much aplomb (and hard work).

The resulting film, with production values that match the qualities associated with this iconic fashion brand, was a big hit and the video continues to set the inspirational tone for LV induction days with its new Sales Associates.

What surprises us today is that although this was shot on a fledgling DSLR camera back in 2012, the video still has resonance, not because of the image quality, but due to the production values, the careful approach and bold conceit. It just goes to show that, like a quality sweater, a corporate training video can be timeless.