Welcome back to the Gentleman's Gazette! in our series, Is it worth it?
Today, we'll review the Louis Vuitton Weekender Keepall BANDOULIÈRE 55. Louis Vuitton
is the most powerful fashion or luxury brand in the world, today. There's a long,
innovative, and at times, controversial history but most people today, know the
brand for the LV monogrammed logo that's plastered all over their products.
Despite the fact that now, even mainstream consumers aspire to have a
Louis Vuitton item, today, it remains a sort of fashion's great status symbols and
because of that, it is heavily counterfeited. Because of that, we bought our
BANDOULIÈRE 55 Keepall at the local Louis Vuitton store so we can insure it is a
genuine product. Now, before we dive in to the in-depth
review of the weekender bag, let's take a quick look at the history of Louis Vuitton.
Louis Vuitton was a remarkable man. Antagonized by his stepmother,
he left his small Swiss border town in France in 1835 and made his way towards
Paris over the course of the next two years. After practicing from another trunk
maker in Paris for 17 years, he finally opened his own store in 1854. By that
time, it was also servicing royal clientele. At the time, pretty much only
rich people traveled and they had staff so their luggage consisted of huge
trunks that were carried along by those people.
Mr. Vuitton inevitably created a flat top trunk that was more easily stackable
than the previously domed or round ones. He also experimented with canvas versus
leather which resulted into a lightweight trunk. Because of that level of
innovation, Vuitton trunks were a big commercial success.
Unfortunately, in 1870, the Vuitton Atelier along with the rest of Paris, was
destroyed during the Franco-Prussian war. After successfully rebuilding the
business, he launched a new line of trunks with a characteristic bright
red and beige stripe, as well as a brown and a beige stripe which became
some of the hallmark for Louis Vuitton trunks. Looking back, it was an early
attempt to fight off imitators of his products. To keep its competitive edge,
Vuitton kept innovating. In 1886, he developed a lock system with two spring
buckles that wasn't so effective that not even Harry Houdini could escape from
it. By 1888, Vuitton's business suffered from numerous imitators and so he came up
with a checkerboard canvas that is calledDamier canvas which is still
around today. The purpose was to fight off other imitators. Eight years later, in
1896, his son, Georges created a LV pattern canvas with quatrefoils and
flowers. Again, this was another attempt to prevent counterfeiting and that same
pattern is on the keepall we review today. It seems to have worked at least
somewhat because by 1900, Vuitton had already a hundred employees. However, it
took until 1930, until the first Keepall bag was introduced for travelling by
Louis Vuitton. During World War II, the house, then run by Louis'
grandson, Gaston Louis Vuittton was forced to collaborate with a Nazi regime. They
actively aided the puppet government run by Marshal Philippe Pétain and they
enriched themselves by working for the Germans. Vuitton even set up a factory
to create busts dedicated to Pétain. By 1959, the way people travelled changed
and so smaller leather goods were introduced into the range of Louis Vuitton. In
1987, Louis Vuitton merged with champagne brand, Moet & Chandon and Cognac brand, Hennessy
to create the large luxury conglomerate
known today as the LVMH or Louis Vuitton, Moet, Hennessy.
These days, the conglomerate has revenues of around
fifty billion dollars a year and Louis Vuitton is a high fashion brand that produces
clothing, including sneakers, watches, leather goods, and accessories. It seems
like they maintain workshops in France, Germany, Italy, Spain,
and the US, so they have not outsourced production to low-cost countries. They are
rated as the number 12 most valuable luxury brand and they're highly profitable. Now
that you know a little bit about the history, it's time for an in-depth review of the
Louis Vuitton Keepall BANDOULIÈRE 55. We chose the classic color
combination of the brown monogram canvas with the undyed cowhide leather accents.
Essentially, you could buy the bag without the shoulder strap but then it's
just a keepall 55. The additional shoulder strap which costs four hundred dollars
makes it the BANDOULIÈRE. Frankly, the leather handles on the bag are so small
that without the shoulder strap, the use is very limited because you can't even
carry it over your shoulder. In the US, with the strap, it retails for $1,820
without tax or $1,420
without the shoulder strap. If you add the tax, it gets you over fifteen hundred
or close to two thousand dollars, respectively. Four hundred dollars for a
leather shoulder strap is definitely a lot but honestly, without it, it's just not
as useful. Before we bought the bag, of course, we did some research, read
up on the history, and checked out their website and they provided pathetically
little information about the bag, the origins of the materials, and how it's
made. So the biggest point of uncertainty for most is whether the bag is made of
leather or canvas. Many assume that this Louis Vuitton Keepall is made out
of leather because it has a leather like texture underneath the logo canvas. On
the website though, they call it a canvas and not leather
so they're not trying to be deceptive about it. So how exactly is a Louis Vuitton
monogrammed coated canvas made? Essentially, it is a fabric and I don't
even know the material of fabric but it is a fabric coated in PVC, stands for
polyvinyl chloride, also known as vinyl. It's the world's first most widely
produced plastic polymer and it is a very cheap material. Because of that, I
wasn't surprised that the whole PVC part was not marketed or advertised on their
website. If you look at the back, it seems to be a cotton but it also could be nylon
or polyester cotton blend, I don't know. The only real way to figure it out would
be to send it to a labnnor maybe do a burn test but we refrained from doing so. So
despite the fact that it is such a cheap material, it was a little disappointing in a
bag that's that expensive. The pros of the material is that it's quite
lightweight which is great for travel. The con list is a lot longer. First of
all, it's a lot less expensive than leather and also less durable and it
doesn't develop as nice of a patina. General PVC or vinyl is a very
pedestrian material that is used in cheap bags or a tile alternative in your
kitchen. Now, Louis Vuitton keepall doesn't feel as cheap as some other vinyl bags.
At the same time, it doesn't feel as nice as a high-quality leather bag either.
First of all, it seems that this vinyl is not really meant for traveling. When I
went to their website and check for their care instructions, I thought they were
just flat-out ridiculous. "Beware not to scratch or rub your product against
abrasive surfaces, especially the leather trim."
"keep your product away from damp or
humid environments, avoid direct exposure to sunlight, keep it away from any direct
source of heat like radiators, car interiors overheated by the sun, etc" I mean
really? When I travel, I'm not supposed to keep my bag in the Sun? I mean, how is
that possible? It goes on about keeping away from
greasy substances or cologne. Keeping it away from water and keeping it from dirt
and all those things that naturally happen when you travel. They also suggest
to store the bag in a cotton pouch when not in use which is fine, but overall, I'm
getting the feeling that this is a bag that you should really pamper and take
care of rather than a bag that you can just travel with and forget about.
Another thing that surprised me was that there's actually no feet or reinforced
corners that protect the vinyl coated fabric from wearing out at the edges, so
it's really not a bag that's meant to put down on the floor, so that's hard
when you travel. While properly taking care of the Louis Vuitton product according
to those instructions may allow you to keep the beauty for years, it's also a
huge pain in the butt. My bag isn't just all vinyl coated fabric but it
has cowhide leather trim, as well as the handle system. So everything that is that
beige color that you see in the bag is leather, they're made of what seems to
be an undyed veg tanned cowhide of a high quality. I really like the look of the
combination with this semi translucent Burgundy edge painting which is applied
throughout the back and their workmanship is very detail-oriented and not
sloppy at all. But for a bag of that price, I would expect that. Because the
leather is open pored and uncoated, it will pick up dirt, it will pick up scratches but I
think that's part of developing a patina for a travel piece and so to me,
that's not a downside. For some people, it may be. Next up, let's look at their
double zipper which opens or closes from both sides. It's sturdy and machined out
of brass rather than injection molded. On the inside, you find a smaller zipper
that is likewise machined and not injection molded. It seems like it's the
24 karat gold plating but again, I'd have to send it to the lab to figure out
exactly what the alloy is. Upon closer inspections, the zippers are marked
with Louis Vuitton logos which is atypical because most brands have like a YKK
zipper or a different brand. Now, Louis Vuitton zippers are made by Riri
which are the best zippers money can buy and they're made in Switzerland. So you
pay a high price for the bag but you also get a quality zipper. It seems to me
that generally, Louis Vuitton makes their Keepall bags in France, Spain, and the US.
This particular one was made in the US. The workmanship on a Louis Vuitton BANDOULIÈRE 55
Keepall is very neat and of high quality, overall. The yellow contrast
stitching looks nice, it's doubled up so it won't come apart and it will likely
last you for a while. It also comes with a nice leather luggage tag on the strap
and the stitch density, overall, is very consistent and good. There was just one
area on the strap where I thought it could have been better but it was just a
slightly inconsistent stitch density. In terms of the hardware, prior to 1970,
Louis Vuitton used exclusively brass on their bags. Today, it heavily only uses
brass on some of its bags, not all of them.
For the specific bag that we bought, the online listing didn't provide detailed
information about the hardware. The same style of bag in the darker monogram
eclipse canvas said it had silver colored metallic pieces which sources outside of
Louis Vuitton's say means it's a metal alloy rather than brass. On the other hand, the
Damier canvas bag on the website which is the same style says it
comes with metallic pieces in shiny silver brass which I had to look up to
clarify but it's actually brass that is then plated. Anyhow, for the specific bag we
bought, we don't know exactly if the hardware is made out of brass or of an
alloy. Overall, that's pretty sad, if you ask me, because at that price point, I
expect to know exactly where things come from and how they're made. Now, the fact
whether something is brass or not aside, the gold plating here is rather
inconsistent. For example, if you look at the d-ring and the zippers, they have
this kind of yellowish greenish gold. If you then look at the gold of the strap,
it's a lot more reddish gold versus the lock, it's a more intense yellow gold. If
you put them all together, you have two zippers, one d-ring, and one lock in three
different gold tones. It's probably because they plate things in different
facilities but from Louis Vuitton, I would expect it to be uniform. In terms of sizing,
the bag is 55 centimeters long, which is where it gets its name from. It's also 31
centimeters tall and 24 centimeters wide. In inches that means 21.7 inch
long, 12.2 inches high, and 9.4 inches wide.
That means it's slightly shorter and slimmer than my brown leather weekender
bag but it's also slightly taller and the capacity is about the same. It's a
good carry-on size so you don't have to check your luggage and you can still fit
a decent amount of stuff in the bag. So the big question, is a Louis Vuitton
Keepall BANDOULIÈRE 55 bag worth its money or not? In my opinion, the one
word answer is no and here's the why... On the pro side, we have zippers that are
very high quality, a very good size, and leather is of high quality, as well.
Unfortunately, it's not used in very many places. The list of cons in my book is a
whole lot longer. One, PVC vinyl coated fabric, seriously? I won't even buy it for
$100 in the bag. For me,. that's an absolute no-go! Now, I know that most
Louis Vuitton customers don't care so much about that because it's more of a status
symbol and what it reflects and what it shows that you can afford. Being able to
communicate I'm rich and I can afford to spend two grand on a bag is definitely
more important for people than the quality of the bag if you buy Louis Vuitton.
Since we really care about the quality and the workmanship, we're not the
perfect target market for Louis Vuitton bags. While they had a great tradition of
innovation, craftsmanship, and workmanship, I think today, it's all, by far,
overshadowed by the brand and its status. If you buy this bag, then you likely do
so because you want to boost your ego and not because you're interested in the
quality of the goods, the workmanship, or anything else. Of course, there may be
exceptions to the rule but if, let's say, you want a luxury good and quality is
really important for you, you're much more likely to go with a brand like
Hermes, for example. Now, the question if something is worth it
is always connected somewhat to the term, value. I think, if you're
looking for a status symbol that is widely recognized, having a
Louis Vuitton bag is probably a good deal. That being said, if you just want a good bag,
it's probably a very bad value for you. I think if you spend close to $2,000 for a
bag, you should be able to know and be able to get the information of where
some things are made, what materials are used, and why things were used versus
other stuff. But hey, who am I to tell Louis Vuitton what to sell or what not to sell?
They obviously know their customer, they're highly profitable, and they have
a very high revenue, so kudos to them! Personally, I don't appreciate their
vague language on their website around gold and brass pieces or metal pieces
and silver, it's just all not clear and it's just supposed to sound nice, I guess,
but it doesn't tell me what I'm actually getting. I also don't like the fact that
I have to pamper and take care of my bag to a very high degree so it's
more of an object that needs maintenance rather than something that is helpful to
your lifestyle. If I would have to guess how much the material and the
workmanship the bag costs, I would ask it to be anywhere from five to ten
percent which means 90 to 95 percent of the bag are brand building, marketing, and
status symbol. Now, I get it, that's what great brands do. They're able
to sell you a product of similar or equal quality to another brand for a lot
more money and it takes time to do that and it requires a really long term
strategy to get a lot of people to like your product and want to pay more for it
even though they could get the same quality for a lower price. At the same
time, I feel if you want a true luxury product, Louis Vuitton seems just like
the pedestrian entry into that market. For example, if you look at a weekender keepall
bag from Goyard, it costs around $6,500 which is
almost three times as much as the Louis Vuitton and if you look at Hermes,
theirs cost$13,000 - $14,000. So if you want true
luxury and a true status symbol, Louis Vuitton will not get you that. It's more
of a mainstream thing that people buy when they don't know other luxury brands.
So if you think about it, Louis Vuitton is neither a high quality product nor a
super luxury brand. Also, keep in mind that because of its popularity, Louis
Vuitton is still one of the most counterfeited bags out there so a lot of
people may see you and think you're wearing a counterfeited bag because
that's what most of them are. So while this bag is absolutely not worth it to
me, I think the bag can be worth it for you if you care about that strong
Louis Vuitton branding. Regarding alternatives, if you don't want to shell
out 14,000 for an Hermes bag or six-and-a-half thousand for a Goyard
bag, you can find plenty of options under the sun in leather, without logos, in
all kinds of different sizes that will allow you to get something that works
for your lifestyle, for your needs, and for your budget. In today's video I'm wearing a
three-piece flannel suit that is made out of a houndstooth brown and off-white
flannel from Harrison's. I am combining it with an off-white dress shirt with
French cuffs that has tiger's eye cufflinks, which were brown with gold
hardware from Fort Belvedere. I have a madder silk tie in a buff tone with a
red and black oversized Paisley combined with a Fort Belvedere pocket square,
which is a silk wool blend, which has an oversized pattern, and the red color of
it picks up the red color in the tie. So, it harmonizes but, at the same time, it
has a certain contrast. I'm combining the suit with long wing full brogues from
Allen Edmonds with brown shoelaces. They are flat and
a little wider that provide a slightly different look.
My socks are shadows striped in brown and beige from Fort Belvedere and they
pick up the color scheme of the bag as well as the suit. Obviously, the bag you
see is the Louis Vuitton BANDOULIÈRE 55 keepall weekender bag. If you're
interested in these For Belvedere accessories or anything else Fort
Belvedere, please head over to our shop here. I
promise, you won't find anything that is vinyl or PVC coated in our shop. We
focus on high quality items that provide
a much better value than Louis Vuitton, at least in my opinion.