Vasava and Jordi Labanda collaborate on classy animation for Louis Vuitton

New York-based fashion and advertising illustrator Jordi Labanda and prolific Spanish studio Vasava have collaborated on an animation for Louis Vuitton, to announce the launch of the luxury brand’s new mobile commerce site in the US.

The classy 51-second spot mixes Labanda’s elegant illustration aesthetic and sophisticated colour palette with a retro, eastern Europe-inspired animation style.

“The brief was to narrate how the quality and craft of Louis Vuitton products are now available to order online across different devices,” explains Vasava co-founder Bruno Sells.

“We created this simple story where we see the costumer ordering some goods, and all of a sudden the bridge of Alexander III takes off from Paris, crosses the ocean and delivers the package to the girl,” he continues. “Along the trip, different monuments and landmarks of the two countries are shown, giving a sense of ‘Paris-ification’ of the given country.”

The challenge for Vasava was to take Labanda's hand-painted illustrations and bring his story to life, without overpowering them. “Jordi has a special touch for fashion imagery, with great attention to detail. He’s very conscious of choosing the right element to build up a composition,” says Sells. “We didn't want to add too many fireworks.”

Vasava brought the illustrations into Photoshop where the team retouched them and built the scenery, before animating the piece in both Photoshop and After Effects.

As long-time collaborators, the project played out particularly smoothly. Vasava recently designed and coded Labanda's website, and the illustrator didn’t hesitate to contact the studio when the Louis Vuitton team invited him to work on the project.

“My favourite part of the project has been the very enjoyable experience we had producing it,” adds Sells. “It’s been great to work with Jordi once again, and also the client side has been very supportive, respecting the artistic part of the project and understanding the story, approach and style very well. We had a great time doing it.”