Francisca Matteoli

Considering that it’s the perfect season to take an armchair vacation around the world (mid-winter, stuck in the Canadian west), I figured this gorgeous coffee table tome from Louis Vuitton would be the perfect remedy to the February blues. We know that LV has been known to create practical and fantastically customized pieces for their clients, so this book should have hit the perfect notes of romanticized travel nostalgia. It began with some gorgeous prose by author Francisca Mattéoli that began to paint a vibrant picture of her own travels, but soon devolved into a haphazard collection of mini-episodes exploring the many modes of travel. The text and design within each chapter was well-enough presented in microcosm, but there was little in the way to organize the collection - jumping from airplanes to trains to walking tours (and circling back to each topic multiple times) - which made it feel like everything was endlessly repeating with little point. Paired with a lack of personality as the chapters went on, not to mention missing out on some major mechanical milestones (they’re seriously going to skip the influence of Daimler Benz, and the first long distance car trip made by Bertha Benz?!), there was little to like in this book besides the illustrated materials. These were, expectedly, lovely, since vintage travel ads are an art form unto themselves, but sitting without any real context does little besides provide some visual play as one shallowly glances through this book’s pages. By the finale, I was left without an iota of my typical wanderlust - a sincerely missed opportunity for LV, since this book could have been a major lifestyle guide and inspiration, and should have been an easy sell for me!… (mere)