Celebrating the Speedy

What is it about handbags that drives women crazy along with the men who love them? And what is it about Louis Vuitton that makes its fans addicted?

I was almost 30 when I got my first Louis Vuitton. It was a tiny Amazone I had saved up for. But ask any regular girl who’s dreaming of her first LV — chances are it’s a Speedy.

The Speedy is probably Louis Vuitton’s most phenomenal and bestselling handbag. Girls dream of it because it’s fairly affordable as an “entry level” bag to the luxury brand. It comes in a variety of sizes, from the tiny Mini HL, the Speedy 25 cm, 30 cm and 35 cm. The bag can also pack flat, so the stores can stock loads of it.

But who knew there were so many kinds of Speedies? I had no idea until I started researching for this story.

It’s a little known fact that the Speedy was born in the 1930s after the popularity of the travel bag called the Keepall. Originally called the “Express,” the bag was designed as a reduced version of the Keepall.

But in the 1960s, after Audrey Hepburn carried one in the movie Charade, the bag caught on as a sought-after city bag. The new bag was a specially sized 25cm for Ms. Hepburn, and renamed the “Speedy,” in reference to fast-paced living and modern means of transportation.

Now its price can range from the affordable Monogram Speedy to the extravagant and rare Ostrich Speedy.

To celebrate Louis Vuitton’s most iconic shape, various incarnations of the Speedy are on view at the flagship store on Greenbelt 4 until today only. The limited edition Speedy 25 Miroir is available for purchase.

Louis Vuitton also offers the Monogram service where a client can custom-order a Speedy bearing his/her initials. The initials are not painted on a bag, but screened flat on the canvas before it is stitched up and constructed at the Louis Vuitton workshop in Asnières, France.

To know more, visit the Louis Vuitton store at Greenbelt 4, Ayala Center, Makati or call 756-0637.