路易·威登的皮包是怎样做出来的？

路易·威登的皮包是怎样做出来的?

In 1859, the luxury pioneer Louis Vuitton moved his family home from central Paris to the suburb of Asnières. Designed by Vuitton’s son Georges, the ancestral residence is an Art Nouveau extravaganza, replete with floral motifs, a ceramic chimney and stunning stained glass windows. Across the lawn is the atelier, in continuous operation for more than a century and a half, where the company’s famous rigid trunks, beautiful bags and special orders are made by skilled artisans. Inspired by the style of Gustave Eiffel, it has an airy architecture articulated by steel beams, and though it was completely renovated and expanded in 2005, it retains its original facade and configuration.

1859年，奢侈品先驱路易·威登(Louis Vuitton)把家从巴黎市中心搬到了阿涅尔郊区。这栋祖宅经威登的儿子乔治斯(Georges)设计，具有新艺术派的奢华风格，到处是花朵图案，还有陶瓷烟囱和极其美丽的彩绘玻璃窗。草坪对面是工作室，迄今已经连续运转了一个半世纪。技艺精良的技师们在这里制作公司著名的精致皮箱、漂亮手包以及特殊订单。受居斯塔夫·埃菲尔(Gustave Eiffel)风格启发，这栋轻盈通透的建筑也是用钢梁搭建起来的。虽然它在2005年经过了彻底翻修和扩建，但是仍保持了最初的外观和外形。

This weekend, Louis Vuitton and other brands in the LVMH family open their private workshops in France, Italy, Spain and Switzerland for the second edition of “Les Journées Particulières,” a rare chance for the general public to see how these beautiful wares are made. The Louis Vuitton atelier will receive a thousand guests, who will visit the facilities and see the process firsthand. For everyone else, a virtual tour:

这个周末，路易威登以及路威酩轩(LVMH)集团下属的其他品牌将为第二期“特别的日子”(Les Journées Particulières)活动，开放它们在法国、意大利、西班牙和瑞士的私人工作室。公众可以借这个难得的机会看看这些美丽的物品是怎样做成的。路易威登工作室可以接待1000名客人，他们参观工作室里的设施并亲眼观看生产过程。所有不能亲临现场的人，可以跟我来一场虚拟之旅。

On the workshop’s ground floor, artisans select and prime materials. Here, carpenters create the skeletons of those legendary LV trunks with supple wood sourced from France and Africa, the combination of which helps the luggage withstand variable weather conditions. Nearby, the less exotic leathers are stored — lamb and goat for linings, veal and cowhide for exteriors — all at a constant temperature (between 16 and 19 degrees Celsius). The house’s signature material is flesh-colored natural cowhide leather, the basis for all monogram bags. The more exotic leathers — stingray so thick you can’t stitch into it, python skins as long as eight meters — require specific expertise. Each exotic skin is colored and given a matte or glazed finish, then cut with pressurized machines, except for special orders, which are always cut by hand.

在工作室的一层，技师们挑选并准备原材料。在这里，木匠们用从法国和非洲运来的柔韧木料制作经典LV皮箱的框架，这两种木料的结合可以使皮箱经受各种天气情况的考验。旁边存储着一些常见的皮料——做衬里的小羊羔皮和山羊皮，外面用的小牛皮和母牛皮——这些皮料都要保持恒定的温度(16至19摄氏度)。这家公司的标志性材料是肉色的天然牛皮，它是所有交织文字手包的基础材料。一些更特殊的皮料需要用特殊技术进行处理——黄貂皮很厚，不能缝制，蟒蛇皮能有8米长。每种特殊皮料都要染色，表面处理成哑光或者亮光，然后用加压机器切开，特殊订单除外，那些都是手工切割的。

Upstairs, craftsmen assemble and perfect the pieces. Glimpsing an unfinished handbag lining is like catching someone in her underwear: it appears denuded, vulnerable. Nearby, the wooden frames for the trunks are covered with canvas and leather. Following the rules on how to place the materials is a skill unto itself: the logo must always be centered, the monogram must never be cut, the flowers must correspond perfectly from one edge to another. Next, the signature Louis Vuitton “tumbler lock” is put in place. Since the founding of the company, every trunk has been given a unique registered lock number. It holds the secret of when the trunk was made, by whom, and where it was purchased.

在楼上，技师们组装并装饰这些物品。瞥见没完工的手包的里面，就像瞥见一个女人只穿内衣：它看起来赤裸而脆弱。旁边的皮箱木框架上盖着帆布和皮料。遵守组装这些材料的规定本身就是一种技术：商标永远要放在正中间，交织字母永远不能被切掉，两端的花朵图案必须完全一致。接下来，装上路易威登标志性的 “杠杆锁”。从该公司创建以来，每个皮箱的锁都有独一无二的登记号。根据登记号，能查出皮箱的制作时间、制作技师以及购买地点。

Another floor up, a staff is dedicated entirely to refining the exotic skins. It’s calmer and quieter here, as practiced workers focus intently on rendering harmony among the incredibly sensitive and expensive skins that constitute a single accessory. Without a doubt, the expert craftsmen throughout the building are the key to the entire operations. So it’s fitting that they wear beige lab coats or aprons with pockets that bear their name and the year they started, below the company name — a nod to their own contribution to the legacy of this one-of-a-kind maison.

再上面一层，有一群员工专门负责优化外部的皮料。这里更安静，熟练的工人们专心致志地工作，为构成这件配饰的各种娇贵皮料赋予平衡之美。毫无疑问，这幢大楼里的专业技师们是整个制作过程的关键。难怪他们穿着米黄色的实验室大褂或者围裙，衣袋上公司的名字下面是他们的名字和开始工作的年份——这是在感谢他们对这家独一无二的公司做出的贡献。