Louis Vuitton Elevates Remote Work With This Reinvented Classic

Louis Vuitton Elevates Remote Work With This Reinvented Classic

Louis Vuitton’s secrétaire bureau 2.0 (foreground) with its vintage predecessor. Courtesy of Louis Vuitton

In July 1929—when the Roaring Twenties were still roaring—celebrated British orchestra conductor Leopold Stokowski commissioned Louis Vuitton to design and produce a portable secretary. By then, the Paris luggage company, founded by French master trunk maker Louis Vuitton in 1854, had produced an impressive, if curious, array of specialty designs. The Bed Trunk, which contained a folding cot, was favored by 19th-century explorer Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza; the Library Trunk was commanded by Encyclopædia Britannica to deliver its 29-volume 11th edition to customers; and the Shoes Trunk was requested by American opera diva Lily Pons for her ample collection of pumps.

Upon receiving Stokowski’s order, the design team—led by Louis’s son Georges at the company’s original workshop in the Paris suburb of Asnières-sur-Seine—set about reconfiguring the traditional malle, or travel trunk, to meet Stokowski’s needs. When opened, a desk swung up and perched on foldable legs. There were bookshelves, a typewriter compartment, and drawers large enough to hold sheet music. (There was no need for a baton; Stokowski famously started the trend of conducting with his hands.) While the exterior was enveloped with the luxury house’s traditional Monogram canvas, an ecru–and–burnt sienna jacquard with geometric and floral motifs and the founder’s initials, the interior was lined with soothing gray swallow Vuittonite, a waterproof material introduced by Louis in 1854 and later popularized for automobile luggage.

An archival sketch of the 1929 Secrétaire bureau, commissioned by conductor Leopold Stokowski. Another original version of the Stokowski. An original version of the Stokowski.

For many years, the Stokowski, as it became known, was one-of-a-kind. But it was such a smart and enviable design that the company eventually made it available for special orders, adding a compartment for a folding stool. It has remained in production ever since. Versions now reside in the company’s archives and in La Galerie Louis Vuitton, located at the Asnières-sur-Seine compound.

Coinciding with the 200th anniversary of company founder Louis Vuitton’s birth, the brand has introduced the Secrétaire Bureau 2.0, an update of the Stokowski with modern needs in mind. The desk is larger, to accommodate laptops, as are compartments for storage. There is a cable passage for efficient wire management, a “smart top” that keeps the trunk organized when closed, and a lid lining that can serve as a bulletin board. As with all Vuitton trunks, carpenters craft a structure made of three types of wood: poplar for framework; okoume, a light, resistant African wood, for the body and lid; and beech for decorative and reinforcing laths. The interior is available finished with varnished beechwood or straw marquetry. And like all specialty Vuitton trunks, it is made to order, price upon request. Delivery time: one year. At a time when remote working is increasingly the norm, this luxurious take is anything but ordinary. louisvuitton.com

1854 Louis Vuitton pioneers waterproof canvas, originally offered in Trianon gray and encircled with iron slats (1879 version shown). 1872 Stripes—first red, then beige—begin to appear as a new brand signature. 1889 Georges Vuitton presents the Damier checkerboard design, developed by his father, at the World’s Fair. 1896 Georges creates the iconic LV monogram, a tribute to dad made up of three botanical/geometric motifs and his initials.

Beasts Clawing at Straws review – jet-black comedy in arch Korean thriller

When Korean director Bong Joon-ho won the best picture Oscar in 2020 for his near-universally acclaimed Parasite, he suggested that maybe now is the time for Anglophone viewers to get over the “one-inch-tall barrier of subtitles” and discover the world of pleasure awaiting them. Although there’s a bottomless back catalogue of great Korean films out there to catch up with, those who have embraced the challenge of leaping that tiny barrier might enjoy this new, jet-black comedy by Bong’s fellow countryman Kim Yong-hoon, who is making his directorial debut. Based on a Japanese novel by Keisuke Sone, this is an arch, multi-strand, multi-character three-ring circus, revolving around a Louis Vuitton overnight bag full of cash that long-suffering sauna worker Joong-man (Bae Seong-woo) finds in an abandoned locker at work.

While Joong-man sees in the bag a chance to escape his drudgery-filled life, dealing with his overbearing mother and pissed-off wife, another set of characters are no less invested in acquiring this untraceable fortune. Sleazy customs official (Jung Woo-sung) is in hock to gangsters for a debt incurred by his missing wife, while fed-up-and-ready-for-revenge escort (Shin Hyun-bin) is regularly beaten by her vile husband and sees in a besotted client the chance to pull off a Double Indemnity-style con. And then there’s the escort’s imperious boss Yeon-hee (Jeon Do-yeon, a goddess in lipstick and a dab hand with a broken bottle), who knows what it’s like to be hurt by men.

Some of the plot’s manoeuvres are perhaps not as clever as the film-makers seem to think they are, with a temporal two-step shuffle straight out of Pulp Fiction (and scores of other thrillers). But the performances are rich and perfectly pitched, from the leads right down to the comic-relief minor characters, such as Park Ji-hwan’s lowlife sidekick and Youn Yuh-jung – who won an Oscar this year for Minari – as Joong-man’s infinitely annoying mother. The intense colour palette blends neon signs and green-lit interiors with the vast amounts of scarlet blood that flows as a consequence of the frequent violence.

Beasts Clawing at Straws is released on 13 August on Curzon Home Cinema.

Beasts Clawing at Straws: the wild Korean thriller for fans of Parasite

The racy, high-octane movie from first-time filmmaker Kim Yong-Hoon, set in the neon-lit city of Pyeongtaek, follows a hotel sauna janitor and call girl in a scramble for cash

Text James Balmont

Still looking to fill that Parasite-shaped hole? Well, your prayers may well have been answered. After making a dynamic impact at home last year (and premiering at the Opening Gala of the London East Asia Film Festival 2020), gruesome South Korean thriller Beasts Clawing at Straws has now arrived on Curzon Home Cinemas, and will join digital streaming platforms later this month. Directed by Kim Yong-hoon as his debut feature film, it’s a wild blend of crime chaos, with an ensemble of apparently unconnected characters going head-to-head for a bag full of cash in the heart of Pyeongtaek. Fans of Tarantino and the Coen Brothers will relish the tense romp of dodgy deals, cunning betrayals, and unexpected casualties. And, of course, there can only be one victor.

THE NEON-LIT CITY OF PYEONGTAEK IS THE CRIME SCENE The film’s tightly wound plot concerns a Louis Vuitton duffle bag stuffed full of cash, abandoned by an unknown benefactor in a hotel sauna locker room. This is the central MacGuffin that will become the fixation of the film’s titular “beasts” – but it is the vivid setting of Pyeongtaek that serves as a most conducive backdrop as the rat race promptly spins out of control. The port city, located 65km south of Seoul, is a rain-soaked metropolis marked by virtual driving ranges, conveyor belt sushi restaurants, neon-lit nightclubs, and desolate dockyards. As Beasts Clawing at Straws depicts it, this thriving sin city is fuelled by corruption – from cruel middle managers and vicious brothel patrons, to double-crossers and noir-ish femme fatales. Throw in some hefty ongoing debts and some bloodthirsty, money-hungry locals, and you’ve got a recipe for disaster in the style of Fargo or No Country For Old Men.

Courtesy of Curzon Home Cinema

THE CAST INCLUDES A 2021 OSCAR WINNER While a life-changing sum of money is at the heart of the narrative, it’s the players that colour the film so vividly. Looping in and out of each other’s stories in a manner akin to Pulp Fiction, the vibrant ensemble of characters risk everything while racing each other for the prize. There’s disreputable customs officer Tae-young – deep in debt with sadistic crime boss Park Doo-man. Park’s cannibalistic henchman Catfish, meanwhile, has an insatiable appetite for raw meat. Mi-ran’s a call girl, coupled up with a young Chinese immigrant who boasts that he’s killed a man. Her boss Yeon-hee, meanwhile, has a secret to hide – with the shark tattoo on her leg hinting at a ruthless streak. All the while, a solitary detective named Myung-goo (played by regular Bong Joon-ho collaborator Je-mun Yun) nips at their heels. But the film begins with – and, for large sections, is carried forwards by – hotel sauna janitor Joong-man, down on his luck and struggling to provide for his wife and sick, paranoid mother. The latter – who seems to believe the former is trying to kill them all – is portrayed by Youn Yuh-jung, who notably became the first Korean to win Best Supporting Actress at the Academy Awards this year for her performance in Minari. These remarkably similar roles (right down to the characters each bearing the same name: Soon-ja) were consecutive jobs for Youn, and her presence is the cherry on top of a character-driven narrative that radiates with captivating performances.

Courtesy of Curzon Home Cinema

IT TOPPED THE SOUTH KOREAN BOX OFFICE… BRIEFLY In late February 2020, Beasts Clawing at Straws hit the top spot at the box office in South Korea after selling 223,000 tickets across 991 screenings. It might have done even better if the circumstances had been kinder. The release came right at the start of the country’s battle with the pandemic, with the ‘Patient 31’ super-spreader event resulting in the country’s infection rate increasing nearly five-fold the week of release. Roughly 60 per cent of the total infections nationwide were believed to have stemmed from the incident – which took place at a controversial religious establishment in Daegu dubbed a “doomsday sect with (a) messianic leader” by the Washington Post. Yet despite the unfortunate timing, the film was a critical success at home and abroad, winning the Special Jury Prize at Rotterdam, while editor Meeyeon Han (Parasite, Snowpiercer) was awarded Best Editing at the Blue Dragon Awards the same year.

Courtesy of Curzon Home Cinema