There was a steady flow of guests lined up to meet, greet and get a book signed by Swiss artist Thomas Ott for most of the night last Thursday (May 3) inside the Louis Vuitton store on Chicago’s Michigan Avenue. The cocktail reception celebration was the kickoff for the luxury fashion brand’s new Travel Book, Route 66, created by famed comic-book artist Thomas Ott, who is based Zurich. The 152 page book chronicles Ott’s journey starting in Chicago and then moving through Illinois, to Santa Monica, where he travelled nearly 2,700 miles over a period of three weeks.
Thomas Ott, Thomas Haupt (Vice President – Louis Vuitton)
Guests enjoyed finger bites and champagne while some took part in the animated GIF photobooth which featured moving visuals that takes the guest down Louis Vuitton’s personalized Route 66. Louis Vuitton also created custom postcards from artwork featured in the book and guests could write a message on the cards and send them out directly from the event. Chicago was the first of three launch parties planned along Route 66.
Route 66 joins other travel book titles launched by Louis Vuitton this spring which includes Cuba by Chinese artist Li Kunwu, Prague by Russian artistPavel Pepperstein, and Rome by Miles Hyman. The Louis Vuitton Travel Book series features illustrations of renowned artists and promising young talents that tell the stories of the cities and countries they have visited, depicting each place’s varied architecture and special light, and recording the passing days and the lives of its people.
Andrea Levoff, Jenn Ibe, Jennifer Worman
Thomas Ott
Tina Mari Rucker, Akylbek Tolomushov
Nina Mariano
Johnny Contraveos, Julia Daoud
Nicole Rudden, Jacquelyn Lumley
Helen Berkun, Corri McFadden
Photo: Daniel Boczarski/Getty Images for Louis Vuitton
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