Amazing how many reinventions this most marketable bag has undergone
NINA GARCIA, ONE OF AMERICA?S foremost style arbiters, in her slim tome ?The Little Black Book of Style,? made no secret of her disdain for the so-called ?it? bag.

Yet at the same time, the ?Project Runway? judge declared a few iconic bags as must-haves: the Channel 2.55, Gucci?s Jackie O, the Louis Vuitton Speedy and, if one could afford it, the Hermés Birkin.

Of the four classic styles, the Speedy is the most popular. It has undergone a series of ?incarnations? since the new millennium, thanks to LV artistic director Marc Jacobs.

11-piece collection

The Speedy, with its many colors, treatments and makes, is the subject of an ongoing exhibit at LV?s Greenbelt 4 store in Makati. First shown in Guam early this year, the 11-piece collection will be on display until March 28 before it moves to other Asian countries.

Working alone or collaborating with such artists as Takeshi Murakami, Richard Prince and the late Stephen Sprouse, Jacobs showed?and continues to show?the many ways an icon could be reinvented for today?s stylish and busy women.

Apart from giving LV fans something to talk about, the series of moves, which began in 2001 with Jacobs? collaboration with Sprouse to produce the first-edition LV Graffiti bags, was obviously meant to attract a new generation of LV loyalists.

The French brand made a splash in the early ?60s when it created the Speedy 25, the smallest carry-on of its kind, for Audrey Hepburn. It has become one of its staple offerings ever since.

Before that, the Speedy, known originally as the Express, debuted in 1930 as a smaller and handier version of the Keepall travel bag. It was originally produced in Monogram canvas, the same variant that continues to inspire LV?s special editions.

Sprouse?s take on the Speedy marked the first time LV?s Monogram pattern had become a canvas for creative expression. The development also signaled the beginning of collaborations with other artists.

After working with Murakami to produce the Monogram Multicolore, Jacobs asked him again in 2005 to create a new look. That collaboration resulted in the Monogram Cerises, which consists of superimposed bright red cherries on the classic canvas.

The two were at it again in 2008 with the Monogramouflage, which also revolved around the black Monogram motif done on a camouflage pattern.

Innovative techniques

Earlier that year, Jacobs collaborated with fellow American Prince to come up with the Monogram Watercolor. Using innovative screen-printing techniques involving a mix of 17 colors, the artist produced an irreverently imperfect ?smudged? take on those priced LV initials.

Jacobs seems to have a soft spot for visual artists. As tribute to the late Sprouse, he thought of resurrecting the Graffiti line sometime last year. Instead of using subdued colors, he went for neon green and bright orange to include special editions of the Neverfull, one of the newest icons in the LV family.

All of these Speedy design editions are in the LV exhibit.

The exhibit also showcases the Speedy?s versatility in the use of materials. The Monogram Miroir, for instance, was done in ?mirror? vinyl, which gave the bag a ?dipped in liquid metal? effect.

Following on its heels was the Monogram Dentelle. Jacobs had the canvas embroidered with lurex thread based on a particular lace?s pattern. It was pretty and feminine, in contrast to its predecessor?s cold and flashy appearance.

Not all people may afford special editions of the Speedy, which on average cost 20-40 percent more than their plain, unembellished versions. But not a few are curious enough to troop to LV stores every time a special piece or two are launched. Many of them likely end up buying the brand?s less expensive and year-round pieces.

If there?s one thing the exhibit underscores, it?s the special-edition Speedy?s ephemeral nature. Each attempt at reinventing the iconic bag for a limited time only has made it all the more covetable.