Star gazing (Credit: Louis Vuitton/Annie Leibovitz)
By Michael Banks
It is probably not what astronauts would use as their tool bag when in space, but the fashion house Louis Vuitton has launched an ad campaign for its famous handbags featuring former astronauts Buzz Aldrin, Jim Lovell and Sally Ride.
Buzz Aldrin flew on Apollo 11 and became the second man to set foot on the Moon in 1969. Jim Lovell was the commander of the ill-fated Apollo 13 mission in 1970, who guided his crew safely back to Earth while physicist Sally Ride became the first American woman to go into space in 1983 on the space shuttle Challenger.
The ad is launched to coincide with the 40th anniversary of the lunar landings in July 1969 and is the latest instalment of the French luxury brand’s “journeys” campaign that has previously featured ads featuring the actor Sean Connery and the film director Francis Coppola.
The image of the astronauts was taken in the Californian desert and shows them sitting on and standing next to an old pickup truck while looking at the stars. They are not alone as a $1500 Louis Vuitton “Icare” travel bag sits with them on the pickup’s bonnet.
The ad is due to be in magazines in July, but the website today will start showing videos of the astronauts talking about their trips to the Moon and space and how it has changed their lives.
