What do you think about when you hear these qualities—hunger, high level of skill, the burning desire to win, the perseverance and never-surrender attitude? You picture world-class athletes on the biggest stage, working their craft. The recognition of this strict discipline and skill is creating a growing acceptance of esports as a legitimate career path, and competitive gamers are now being identified as athletes within our society.
The SGD2 billion dollar industry that is egames, is growing by an enormous 10% per year according to Forbes. The International Olympic Committee recognise egaming as a legitimate sport, and this year for the first time have sent 20 professional gamers from Singapore to compete in the 2019 Southeast Asian Games. Today, it could be argued that it is a better career choice to pursue egames rather than the physical sporting alternative, with big money involved in global competitions.
Louis Vuitton contributes to the legitimising of egames by pioneering a first-of-its-kind partnership with video game developer Riot Games. The collaboration will see the luxury fashion house involved with the leading global esport competition—League of Legends World Championship 2019.
The global phenomenon, that is League of Legends, is the most-played PC game in the world. With over 800 professional players globally, it’s difficult not to consider the game a legitimate sport with serious athletes. During the annual world championship, the best of the best come together to compete for the world title and the Summoner’s Cup—recognised as the pinnacle of prestigious trophies in esports.
Louis Vuitton, in collaboration with Riot Games, has deigned a bespoke Trophy Travel Case which holds the renowned Sumoner’s Cup, recently awarded to the League of Legends Champion—FunPlus Pheonix. Marrying virtual and reality, the one-of-a-kind travel case combines modern innovation and high-tech elements, all while maintaining the traditional Louis Vuitton savoir-faire. The trunk comes to life with light as all 5 sides feature screens, and powerful LED lights line each panel—oh and there’s an in-built smoke machine. The development of the trunk, which took a total of 900 hours, involved a technical and innovation phase followed by the construction of the trunk with non-other than Louis Vuitton’s unique know-how and craftsmanship.
Louis Vuitton is no stranger to the world of sports. The French fashion house has encased some of the world’s most coveted trophies, including the FIFA World Cup, the Rugby World Cup and sailing’s America’s Cup. The collaboration is a testament to League of Legends, putting them in the same category as the world’s biggest sporting events.
This intriguing partnership doesn’t stop there—with a capsule collection of champion skins designed by Nicholas Ghesquière, Louis Vuitton’s artistic director of women’s collection’s. The exclusive virtual skins were designed for two champion characters of League of Legends—Qiyana and Senna. Qiyana’s prestige skin will be available in the game until 25 November, while Senna fans will have to wait until 2020.
Louis Vuitton will also launch a capsule collection to wear IRL (which is gamers term for ‘in real life’, obviously). The collection is inspired by Qiyana and Senna’s Prestige skins, and will be revealed in Louis Vuitton boutiques in the near future.
To find out more, visit the League of Legends website.
