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The Louis Vuitton Story Behind the FIFA World Cup 2022

The FIFA World Cup is a timely reminder that the fusion of football and luxury holds great opportunities on the global stage and over a large cross section of spectators. And brands like Louis Vuitton have taken the opportunity and set the social media channels on fire with their campaign this year. But the Louis Vuitton story is much more than the campaign…it is also about protecting the FIFA World Cup Trophy when it travels.

The FIFA World Cup 2022 is ongoing in Qatar. Touted as the world’s largest sporting event and the most popular  event, the FIFA World Cup 2022 is more than just football tournaments. The FIFA World Cup 2022 is an event that showcases a country, the efforts it has put in, the history of the country, the cultural stories not just of the country but also of the region it is held in, which for the first time is being held in the Middle East. For the region this is the time to showcase their love for the game and the fandom the Game commands in countries like India that have a long-term association with Qatar and the Middle East for trade in early history and now to meet their labour needs. The Games have always been meant for the common man, the ones who play on the streets and later at the turfs of national stadiums. But recently, the luxury industry has understood the power the Games has on a large cross-section of people and have entered the arena to leverage the popularity of the Game.

Louis Vuitton set social media ablaze with its latest “Victory is a State of Mind” campaign, featuring Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo and shot by Annie Leibovitz. According to the brand, this campaign is a generational follow-up to the celebrated 2010 campaign featuring the all-time greats Pele, Maradona and Zinedine Zidane.

Cristiano Ronaldo’s post of the campaign is in fact the #2 most liked post ever on Instagram, currently at 36.2M, and Lionel Messi’s is the #5 most liked post ever, at 28.1M likes.

The FIFA World Cup is a timely reminder that the fusion of football and luxury holds great opportunity on a global stage.

But Louis Vuitton has a connection that goes beyond mere campaigns, the FIFA World Cup Trophy is transported in a carefully designed and crafted piece of luxury travel case by Louis Vuitton. The FIFA World Cup Trophy Travel Case has been carefully designed to protect and transport the FIFA World CupTMм Trophy’s 6.175 kilograms of 18-carat gold and malachite.

The case is covered in beautiful, lightweight yet hardwearing, laser-engraved Monogram Titanium, a material previously used in Louis Vuitton’s menswear collection. The trunk’s eight corners are protected with the House’s celebrated natural cowhide leather, and the lock and six clasps are made in ruthenium, a strong dark-grey metal.

Marcel Desailly. Louis Vuitton Trunk. Fifa World cup Trophy. Doha . Qatar. 20/11/2022 © david atlan /louis Vuitton

The FIFA World Cup Trophy Travel Case was unveiled when the FIFA World Cup Trophy was presented at the opening match and will be shown again at the final of this year’s tournament. It was unvelied by Marcel Desailly, the French football legend at the opening match in Doha.

FIFA World Cup Trophy Travel Case is another of the astonishing variety of custom-made travel objects made by Louis Vuitton since its foundation in 1854. The House’s workshop in Asnières has produced a range of designs, from a foldout trunk-bed for 19th century explorer Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza to a library and typewriter trunk for Ernest Hemingway, or a portable tea-service trunk for the Maharajah of Baroda. The workshop continues to produce around 450 special orders every year; the FIFA World CupTM Trophy Travel Case can be added to its list of masterpieces.

Going one step further, Louis Vuitton also unveiled an exclusive capsule collection designed especially for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 that captures the excitement of football in sophisticated shapes, sporty treatments, and discreetly elegant details.

On the occasion of this twenty-second edition, five collectible pieces in black Taurillon leather channel the game’s energy by revisiting one of Maison’s most emblematic signatures, the Damier motif, embossed to recall the movement of the net as a goal is scored.

All Images Courtesy Louis Vuitton.