All Aboard! Louis Vuitton Makes a Triumphant Return to America’s Cup

With the Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup Barcelona, the French luxury house resumes its collaboration with the world’s oldest international sporting event after a seven-year absence. This time around, it will serve as both the title partner for America’s Cup, which began yesterday and will run through October 20, and host of the Louis Vuitton Cup, a qualifying regatta between teams that will determine which one takes on the defenders, Emirates Team New Zealand, in the final. It also happens to be a Spanish homecoming of sorts for the brand, which held its 2025 cruise show at the Park Güell in May.

For the uninitiated, LV has been connected to the America’s Cup for over 40 years, and if you ask longtime competitors, the bond is inextricable. (It’s often noted that the company was founded in 1854, three years after the first Cup was raced. And, of course, a label that began with luggage trunks at a time when a great deal of travel was done via boat is a natural sponsor for sailing.)

louis vuitton america's cup

Courtesy of Louis Vuitton

This year’s America’s Cup encased in a Louis Vuitton trunk.

Grant Dalton, a sailor who is now CEO of America’s Cup, can’t imagine the race without Louis Vuitton. “In 1983, when Louis Vuitton first sponsored the Challenger Series, I was 24, watching with my mother. It was color TV [then], but only just in New Zealand, [and] Australia II beat Liberty in Newport, Rhode Island. From that day to now, and never knowing I’d be lucky enough to have won it twice, Louis Vuitton’s been synonymous with the Cup,” he tells ELLE on-site in Barcelona, right before the racing begins. In fact, even during its absence from the event, few let that iconic monogram and trophy slip their minds. “I’m just so pleased they’re back. You can’t separate the two. It was always the Louis Vuitton Cup.”

Unfortunately, there are no women participating as sailors at this year’s race. In the competition’s history, Dawn Riley sailed aboard the American boat in 1992 and competed again in 1995. There were several other female sailors in the race during that period, but as the boats used shifted in 2010 and began moving much, much faster, the number of women dropped from the roster.

lv x ac collection

Courtesy of Louis Vuitton

A look from the LV x AC collection.

Acknowledging this, the Puig Women’s America’s Cup will begin on October 5, the first all-women’s event in the Cup’s history, and a potential pipeline for female sailors to advance to the Cup. “Women are important to us,” Dalton adds. “If you win a gold medal, that’s basically only a ticket to the classroom. It’s not a ticket to the top. At the moment, it’s almost impossible [for women] to make the transition. I want to create a situation where they can earn the right to be on an America’s Cup boat in the future, because they’re damn good.”

Louis Vuitton is sharing its enthusiasm for the America’s Cup with its first-ever womenswear capsule collection. The line, sold at the races and in stores, includes nautical inspired jackets, hats, shoes, bags, and swimwear, as well as blazers and sleek column dresses that have a less overt sailing look.

SHOP THE LV x AC COLLECTION
Lettermark

Adrienne Gaffney is a features editor at ELLE and previously worked at WSJ Magazine and Vanity Fair.

Comments

Leave a Reply

Skip to toolbar