Louis Vuitton × Chapman Brothers Mochila Steamer M54126, rinoceronte Monogram Savane, SS17

In 2017 Jake and Dinos Chapman set a strange, almost prehistoric rhinoceros loose on Louis Vuitton's pale Monogram Savane canvas, and the tall Steamer Backpack gives the creature its largest stage. From Kim Jones's Spring/Summer menswear season, this M54126 is in very good pre-owned condition, with padlock, key and dust bag.

The Piece

Some Louis Vuitton collaborations decorate an existing icon; this one transforms it. The Steamer Backpack begins with familiar house codes, coated Monogram canvas, structured leather, travel hardware and a substantial silhouette, then places a vast imaginary rhinoceros across the front like an engraving lifted from a forgotten natural-history manuscript. The animal is not cute or conventionally luxurious: it is strange, dense and almost prehistoric, its folds, horn, eye and heavily worked skin rendered with obsessive linework against an unusually pale Monogram field.

For the Spring/Summer 2017 menswear collection, Louis Vuitton worked with British artists Jake and Dinos Chapman on a fantastical animal world built around the idea of a luxury safari, introducing imagined rhinoceros, elephant, lion, giraffe and zebra imagery across Monogram Savane pieces. Under Kim Jones, who directed Louis Vuitton menswear at the time, the house archive increasingly became a stage for contemporary art, street culture, travel and global visual culture, and the Chapman collaboration is one of the clearest examples: rather than replacing the Monogram, the artwork inhabits it.

The rhinoceros is the soul of this backpack. Rendered in dense monochrome linework, it reads like an antique zoological etching filtered through the Chapmans' surreal visual language. Its head and shoulder occupy a large part of the front panel, and close inspection reveals layer after layer: the textured hide, the monumental horn, the folds around the eye, engraving-like shading, fine anatomical lines and an almost mythical expression. Behind it, the Monogram Savane treatment sets the LV initials and floral motifs on a pale ivory-to-cream field with an archival, parchment-like quality, so that the Monogram becomes the environment and the animal becomes the icon. Both systems are repetitive, Monogram repeating symbols and engraving repeating lines, and layered together the repetition turns into density.

The form draws on Louis Vuitton's historic Steamer vocabulary. A broad dark leather flap with horizontal belted detailing divides the upper leather structure from the illustrated canvas body, and the elongated rectangular body feels vertical, formal and almost trunk-like, so the rhinoceros resembles an illustrated panel mounted into travel equipment. Deep navy leather anchors the top, base, handle and trim; the flap is secured by narrow horizontal belting; a rolled top handle allows hand carry, and adjustable shoulder straps make it a full backpack. Cool silver-tone hardware at the flap, straps and travel-style fastenings reinforces the navy-and-ivory palette and the graphite quality of the drawing.

The tall rectangular format offers more usable volume than compact fashion backpacks, accommodating travel documents, a tablet or compact laptop, wallet, camera, notebook, headphones and small accessories while keeping the Steamer silhouette. Against black tailoring the pale canvas becomes almost luminous; with denim it reads as graphic; on a shelf it behaves like an art object. It suits black tailoring, charcoal wool, navy outerwear, white shirts, raw denim, cream knitwear, military-inspired clothing and minimal streetwear, where simple clothing leaves the illustration uncontested.

Details

• Maker: Louis Vuitton × Jake and Dinos Chapman
• Model: Steamer Backpack, M54126
• Line: Monogram Savane, Spring/Summer 2017 menswear (Kim Jones era)
• Origin: France
• Material: Coated canvas, leather and textile
• Color: Ivory / white Monogram with deep navy leather; silver-tone hardware
• Measurements: Height approx. 43.5 cm (17.1 in) · Width approx. 32 cm (12.6 in) · Depth approx. 14.5 cm (5.7 in) · Adjustable shoulder straps approx. 85.5–95.5 cm (33.7–37.6 in)
• Included: Padlock, key, dust bag
• Date code: TR0127
• Carry: Rolled top handle; adjustable shoulder straps

Condition

• Very good pre-owned condition with moderate signs of careful prior use; the Monogram Savane canvas retains strong visual clarity and the rhinoceros artwork remains bold and highly presentable.
• Minor surface wear, faint marks and rubbing in selected areas.
• Light wear to the corners.
• Minor localized separation or wear to portions of the coated edge material.
• Small marks and light rubbing to the interior consistent with previous use.
• The leather structure remains attractive and the backpack presents exceptionally well overall; the photographs form part of the complete condition description.

Authenticity & Care

Model number M54126 with date code TR0127, made in France, from the Spring/Summer 2017 Louis Vuitton × Jake and Dinos Chapman Monogram Savane collection. Every piece is examined and documented in Japan before dispatch and is offered with the Japonista authenticity guarantee.

Delivery from Japan

Packed by hand in Japan and shipped insured and tracked by EMS or an equivalent express service. Import duties and taxes, where applicable, are payable on arrival. Returns follow our published policy.

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