Can Louis Vuitton use Web3 to lean into luxury without offending their mass appeal?

What does it take to translate a storied “Maison” into a business of the future? If anyone can do it, it’s Louis Vuitton.

This week Louis Vuitton announced their next foray into “Web3” (those quotes are very much intentional) - a new collection of phygital “Treasure Trunks.” Each piece costs €39,000, and only several hundred trunks will be made available.

The Treasure Trunks launch is part of a new project called “Via,” which will drop or launch exclusive products and experiences. The VIA treasure trunk is a digital trunk and crypto token, with a physical version as part of the purchase as well, claimed as a Soulbound Token. (Soulbound means it can’t be transferred from the crypto wallet.)

Things I love about this activation:

A trunk is a great move, so aligned with the house codes and the idea of NFTs and digital ownership, the trunk is both a brand emblem and a storage facility or receptacle for these future “keys.”

Experimentation is cool and, in general, I don’t want to shit on anyone trying something new and different.

A new level of exclusivity. The number to be launched hasn’t been announced “a very limited and exclusive edition of a few hundred pieces.” The language implies that this NFT will give access to new/unique LV products or drops, called Keys. For a brand that is so large and so accessible while remaining luxury, this is a new take that could pay dividends. Hermes is trending all over TikTok for having their tiered sales policy (myth or not) wherein you can’t buy a Birkin unless you earn the opportunity by buying enough of the less desirable merch. Here’s a chance for LV to create an opportunity for exclusivity without alienating the many many many rich and aspirational consumers out there rocking their monogrammed canvas.

The sign-up flow leaves room for cherry-picking who gets to buy these; according to Vogue Business, “Louis Vuitton will invite selected registrants to learn more about the world of Via through a private webpage, followed by an invitation on 16 June to purchase their Via Treasure Trunk, using cryptocurrency or fiat currency, on a dedicated site.”

Here are the criteria to prove you’re the right kind of person:

I think we can assume that if you can buy a 39k$ digital trunk, you don’t need or want to be in a community of strangers who also can and want to buy a 39k$ LV trunk. But, if they are cherry-picking and this is going to be a handpicked creme de la creme of some strata of the uber-rich, maybe there is a community there.  

Things I don’t love:

Do you need Web3 to do this? The original token is soulbound; there’s no option to transfer or sell. While soulbound is an interesting concept and important for many of the foundational innovations in Web3 to exist, things like degrees or platforms’ karma points need to be permanently attached to an ID, you don’t NEED to have your LV trunk permanently attached to your identity. 

Is it even Web3? LV is using email/name as identifiers (supposedly) in the sign-up flow, very Web2.0. And you can pay in fiat (e.g. dollaz). Perhaps a necessity for a non-digital native crowd, but is that who is interested in buying these? Not to mention, at this price, surely your assistant can set you up with a MetaMask wallet.

Price. Why 39k euros? Feels very specific. Maybe it’s an Easter Egg? This point actually could go either on the pro side or the con. I am currently neutral on the price. It would’ve been interesting to see a secondary market for this type of good, but I guess we’ll miss that chance. 

Web3 is (often) about community. LV doesn’t seem like it needs to be or even can be a community-driven brand. At its size, it’s not really for any niche, but for ALL the niches- soccer moms with Neverfulls, royalty with a complete set of matching trunks, players of the video game League of Legends, and various musical artists, from Meghan Trainor, to Kanye and beyond. One of the reasons to do soulbound tokens is to create a fanbase, not a marketplace for resale. 

Web3 doesn’t have to be about community. It can be about private identities, seamless transactions, verified authenticity, or clear ownership of digital goods. These are valid and important use cases for luxury brands. The VIA project does mention community a few times in the press release (more on that MOFO later!), but it remains to be seen how this evolves given their customer base.

The press release sucks. I am sorry to be rude, but I have written many press releases, and this is not ok.

They have a star-studded web3 team who I am sure put a lot of thought into this. But the press release reads like a stoned ChatGPT joke. 

“Louis Vuitton is embarking on a new voyage of creation with Web.3, where the physical and digital are seamlessly woven into one material for the Maison to create and dream with, and to craft the exceptional with which the Maison can create, dream and craft the exceptional.”

In all seriousness, the language is beyond clunky to the point of being grammatically incorrect. I don’t believe LV’s PR team makes mistakes like that. Intentional? Intriguing. Or not given as much attention as it should’ve been? If that’s the case, what does it mean? Is this just dipping a toe in?

While I hardly have to mention I won’t be purchasing one of these trunks, I look forward to this first test, in my opinion, of what digital luxury looks like from a storied brand.  LV’s ability to maintain cachet and desirability despite the sheer volume of monogrammed goods it sells each year is remarkable. And to compete with Chanel and Hermes, who lean towards price as discriminator, LV will need new techniques. So while my cons list was a bit long, I’m hopeful for projects like this to pave new Web3-driven pathways in luxury marketing.