For those who don’t know, Dan Carter has a long and storied history with luxury juggernaut, LVMH. It is a relationship that dates back to a stint he did living in Paris, which opened his eyes to the world of high-end fashion. Years later, having established his relationship with LVMH, Carter was asked to conduct a Q&A at a conference of Louis Vuitton’s global GMs, in which he spoke to his experiences around building culture, encouraging strong vision, the growth mindset and the importance of work ethic and humility, discovering that much of what he had learned over his career as a professional rugby player (one of the most well-known professional rugby players in the world, mind you) were applicable to those working across a range of industries.
In the subsequent years, Carter continued to build on his interest in fashion, collaborating with LVMH on various projects (like a monogrammed rugby ball) and sitting front-row at some of the company’s most important fashion shows (like Virgil Abloh’s debut as the menswear designer for Louis Vuitton).
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Now, Louis Vuitton has unveiled the exciting next step in its ongoing relationship with Dan Carter, the Maison’s first Malle Vestiaire, an exquisite, one-of-a-kind wardrobe trunk specifically designed to hold the rugby legend’s most precious sports equipment and memorabilia.
To design this bespoke piece, Carter worked closely with Louis Vuitton’s meticulous artisans and craftspeople, fashioning a striking piece from the finest wood, covered in the Maison’s iconic black-and-silver Monogram Eclipse canvas and with metal clasps, closures and rivers that pay tribute to historic Louis Vuitton trunks. It was also finished with various painted logos and numbers specific to Carter’s career, including DC10 (his player number) and 1598 (the record-breaking number of points he scored across his international rugby career).
Inside, the Malle Vestiaire is lined with micro-fibre and sportswear-inspired fabric and boasts a variety of shelves and draws designed to display Carter’s most-prized memorabilia. This includes his three World Rugby Player of the Year awards, his three Rugby World Cup medals, his two 100th-test caps, the three jerseys he wore at Rugby World Cups, his ‘retirement’ boots, alongside a pair he wore during a Rugby World Cup, copies of his book The Art of Winning and the Louis Vuitton rugby ball he created with the Maison in 2019.
“We wanted to create an extra-special object,” Carter says. “This Malle Vestiaire holds all the memorabilia that symbolises the amazing memories I have of playing professional rugby, while also paying tribute to Louis Vuitton’s renowned Art of Travel. I really can’t think of a better way for them to be displayed than in this beautiful trunk.”
Marking the next step in what has already proven a fruitful partnership for both Louis Vuitton and Carter, the Malle Vestiaire is the perfect embodiment of the rugby legend’s love for fashion and for the sport to which he dedicated most of his life. And with the Rugby World Cup set to kick off on the 8th of September in Paris, we couldn’t think of a more timely tribute.
