Asahi
Stroll around Ginza, Shibuya or any other trendy shopping area in Japan, and chances are you'll see plenty of women carrying dark-brown bags with the same distinctive pattern-a succession of what look like flowers, stars and the letters L and V.
Though almost certainly aware that their Louis Vuitton bags come from France, few of these women probably know that the luxury brand's globally recognized symbols, known as Monogram, could trace their roots to Japan.
The origin of the Monogram canvas is the central theme of ``Universal Symbol of the Brand,'' an exhibition now under way at Tokyo's Mori Arts Center Gallery.
``It started with a question: Why do the Japanese like Louis Vuitton so much?'' says exhibition curator Kaori Ikeda.
``Then, after learning that Japan's kamon family crests had an influence on Monogram, I wanted to let people know about it, so they could be proud of Japanese culture,'' she said.
Trunk maker and company founder Louis Vuitton opened his first store in Paris in 1854, but it was his son, Georges Vuitton, who designed Monogram in 1896 to make the company's products more difficult to fake....the rest...
