Yesterday (Jan. 22), the National Basketball Association (NBA) and world-renowned French fashion house, Louis Vuitton, announced a multiyear global partnership, making the luxury retail company the official traveling case creators for the league's historic Larry O'Brien Trophy. Louis Vuitton's new-found alliance with the NBA marks its first and only partnership with a professional North American sports league.
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The traveling case set to house the 2019-20 Larry O'Brien Trophy was handcrafted in Louis Vuitton's Asnières workshop outside of Paris. The standing trunk is dressed in premium, chocolate leather and coated in the fashion house's coveted emblematic "LV" monogram canvas. Two horizontal white stripes trimmed in blue and red accents meet at the seam of the trunk as polished brass fixtures and a royal blue velvet interior lining close out the trophy trunk.
In a statement about their latest endeavor with the National Basketball Association, Louis Vuitton's Chairman/CEO, Michael Burke, had this to say:
"Louis Vuitton and the NBA are both icons and leaders in their respective fields, and the joining of the two promises exciting and surprising moments, forging historic memories together." Burke continued, "Louis Vuitton has long been associated with the world’s most coveted trophies, and with this iconic partnership the legacy continues – victory does indeed travel in Louis Vuitton!"
With Adam Silver and the NBA consistently expanding their international operations, an NBA x Louis Vuitton collaboration is a perfectly-executed sacrament that both parties will benefit from.
On Friday (Jan. 24), the Charlotte Hornets and the Milwaukee Bucks will play in the NBA's first-ever regular-season game in France at the AccorHotels Arena as apart of the league's NBA Paris Game 2020 presented by beIN SPORTS. The NBA will also provide entertainment for incarcerated citizens this season in support of their "Represent Justice" campaign, when the Milwaukee Bucks and Sacramento Kings face off in front of inmates in Milwaukee on Feb. 10.
With both entities widely known for producing an elite product in their respective industries, we can expect more coming from the joint venture including future capsule collections, attire, and accessories designed by Virgil Abloh available for the public to consume.
Check out the brand new NBA x Louis Vuitton Larry O'Brien Trophy Travel Case in the images below and let us know which NBA franchise will claim the trunk and championship trophy as their own this year in the comment section below.
NBA/Mark Pozin
