Beautifully pairing elegance with function, the new four-wheeled suitcase is here to radically enhance the travel experience with its subtly retro look, reassuring curves and ergonomic design. The Zephyr proudly exhibits all the features that make a piece of Louis Vuitton luggage so distinctive: the pale gold patina on the leather handle and address tag, the padlock, the iconic Monogram canvas and LV initials along with a myriad discreet and carefully considered refinements that contribute to the brand’s timeless elegance. A series of slim pockets and closed adjustable spaces offer so many possibilities which are sure to fulfill every traveller’s needs.

Keeping in line with Louis Vuitton’s highest standards in terms of precision, robustness and quality, the suitcase features a saddle stitch (piqûres à cheval) that not only adds to its beauty, but also significantly increases its durability and robustness. Held together by a fibreglass frame, discreetly placed underneath the zip, it incorporates waterjet cutting for a perfect matching of luggage structure and functional pieces unique to Louis Vuitton. Once again at the leading edge of innovation, the TR4 is the first branded thermo compressed canvas luggage, a technology combining excellent canvas skills (durability and resistance to abrasion) with a strong rigidity as well as an elasticity which is shock absorbent. Add to this to its ability to twist and turn upon itself with admirable ease and you have the perfect suitcase that will make travelling not only stylish a pleasure as well.

And as if the news of a brand new Louis Vuitton luggage was not enough to excite travel enthusiasts, theEspace Culturel Louis Vuitton further invites us to travel through time and space with a beautiful exhibition, while admiring the new Zephyr at their grand Champs-Élysées store.

‘Correspondences’ is the new exhibition that is currently on display until May 5, 2013 at the Espace Culturel Louis Vuitton, the exhibition space located within the Maison’s Champs-Élysées flagship store in Paris, France. Curated by Erik Verhagen, the exhibition takes visitors through the history of Mail Art, the cultural movement that was born in the early 1960s centred around the idea of sharing unique artworks through the international postal system.

Aesthetically influenced by common postal objects, the artists ingeniously combined postage stamps, collage, handwriting, typography and rubber stamps to create envelope-enclosed artworks. The artworks were then mailed to another artist with explicit instructions to add on to and subsequently mail to the next artist. Generated by a desire to circumvent the art market and thus not be embedded with institutions, this chain-mail approach allowed a free distribution of art and created  an opportunity to directly exchange ideas and information among artists in different countries.

Building on this very premise, the exhibition establishes an open dialogue between artists by bringing together works by creators from different generations with different sensibilities. The fact that they have all chosen to use the post as an artistic medium is the unifying factor between them. Featuring a selection of work from artists such as Eleanor Antin, Stephen Antonakos, Walead Beshty, Alighiero Boetti, Jan Dibbets, Eugenio Dittborn,Kurt Ryslavy, Vittorio Santoro and Danh Võ, it offers visitors the chance to delve into the world of mail art from its very beginning up until now.

Particular importance has been given to pioneering artist Ray Johnson, whose work has rarely been shown in France. A key figure in the development of mail art, Johnson invented the New York Correspondence School, which opened up an extensive mail art network of pen pals. The art of correspondence is intimately connected to and principally dependent on the idea of an established network comprised of artists, friends, or anonymous people brought together by a simple letter or package. Through this medium Ray Johnson promoted his letter-based body of work by mailing it to friends (such as artists Eleanor Antin, Alighiero Boetti and Jan Dibbets whose work is also exhibited) and asking them to contribute with their own finishing touches. Inevitably this interactive approach to the creation process broke all traditional conventions with regards to the status of the creator, which was meant to be shared (as illustrated by the work of Vittorio Santoro) or even be entirely wiped out (as seen in that of artist Danh Võ).

The Espace Culturel Louis Vuitton has also decided to give two artists a carte blanche: videographer Clarisse Hahnand sculptor Guillaume Leblon, who interestingly lend their own perspective to the myriad of facets and possibilities of an art form that uses a medium and aesthetic that s becoming scarce in our digitally-centred era.

Philatelists or even dada enthusiasts should not miss out on the opportunity to see this up close!