“We decided we wanted to do something very pretty, and very gentle, and very loving, and just fill it with pretty colors and beautiful light, luminous textures, things that were translucent and transparent. We wanted to define the body and to create shapes, but have air and lightness and softness,” said Marc Jacobs backstage after his Spring/Summer 2012 fashion show for Louis Vuitton

The season’s Leather Goods translate this light, airy spirit, in soft shapes and sorbet shades, and though – as with the ready-to-wear – there are echoes of the strict, fetish-inspired Fall/Winter 2011 collection, notably in the spotlight turned once again on the iconic Lockit bag, the result is quite different.

Monogram Transparent

The Spring/Summer 2012 fashion show opened with variations of the Lockit in sheer nylon voile. Three shapes – a dainty clutch, the classic Lockit and the stretched Lockit East-West – are embroidered inside and out with the Monogram pattern and trimmed with white leather, creating a pure white-on-white look that is one of the key directions of the season.

Monogram Transparent Lockit Clutch
Price: US$1880

Monogram Transparent Lockit
Price: US$3450

Monogram Transparent Lockit East-West
Price: US$3600

Basket

In a variation on the theme of transparency, and in keeping with the sweetly naïve spirit of the season, humble basket bags are elevated to luxury status in metallic patent calfskin, which is simultaneously perforated and embossed to create a three-dimensional effect. Just in case its owner has anything to hide, each basket contains a removable drawstring pouch in tonal jacquard woven with the Monogram pattern.

Mini Basket
Color: Reef
Price: US$2660

Basket
Colors: Rose, Nougat
Price: US$3150

Mama

An equally sweet, feminine theme has a neat day-to-night pochettes in sky blue or eggshell yellow lambskin swinging from dainty silver chains – bright silver having replaced gold this season as the finish of choice for leather goods and accessories. The butter-soft lambskin is embroidered with the Monogram pattern in tiny cross-stitches, and on the first of two limited editions, the motif is then re-embroidered by hand with translucent glass beads. For the second limited edition, the pochette is rendered in pale, whitewashed crocodile. In each case, the flap is fastened by a tiny silver S-lock – a miniaturized version of the one that has secured Louis Vuitton trunks since the 19th century – which is one of the season’s emblematic details.

Mama Broderie Pochette
Colors: Ivoire, Bleu, Jaune
Price: US$3800

Mama Perles Pochette
Colors: Porcelaine, Jaune
Price: US$6250

Mama Croco Pochette
Colors: Bleu, Jaune
Price: US$18,850

Bonded

A second pochette shape on a silver chain comes in two-tone bonded leather, a combination of deerskin and lambskin for a uniquely soft, supple feel. In each case, a strong shade is accented by one of the season’s ice cream pastels – coral with vert d’eau, navy with powder pink, ceramic with soft green – on the inside of the bag and on an outsize zipper pull, which clicks into a tiny silver S-lock on the side.

Bonded Pochette
Colors: Ceramique, Corail, Nuit
Price: US$2970

Monogram Denim

If the Fall/Winter 2011 collection was all about the Lockit, Spring/Summer 2012 brings the Speedy back into the spotlight, though always as a softer, plumper variation of itself. In a casual spirit, a pochette and two sizes of top-handle, all with a removable shoulder strap, come in a pale stonewashed denim woven with the Monogram pattern in silver thread.

Monogram Denim Speedy Squat Pochette
Colors: Jaune, Bleu
Price: US$2030

Monogram Denim Speedy Squat MM
Colors: Jaune, Bleu
Price: US$2820

Monogram Denim Speedy Squat GM
Color: Bleu
Price: US$3300

Monogram Bouclettes

This variation of the classic Speedy is reminiscent of the Fall/Winter 2011′s Monogram Fascination. Soft patent lambskin in pastel colors with delicate matte Monogram pattern embroidery creates an exquisite blend of textures.

Monogram Bouclettes Speedy
Colors: Mint, Rose, Perle
Price: US$4200

Suship

This curvaceous Speedy is rendered in supple clafskin in a classic summery combination of navy and white.

Suship Speedy North-South
Price: US$4700

Les Extraordinaires Crocodile

Reinterpreted with a flap and in precious crocodile with a vintage, whitewashed patina, the Crocodile Old Speedy Flap is also the first of the season’s two Les Extraordinaires, available in a strictly limited, numbered edition.

Crocodile Old Speedy Flap
Colors: Mint, Nuit, Jaune
Price: US$33,000

Les Extraordinaires Coquille D’Oeuf

The ultimate object of desire – and the emblem of the entire elaborately crafted collection – is a dainty minaudière, its Monogram mosaic painstakingly pieced together for over 600 hours from 12,500 fragments of eggshell. A metaphor indeed for the care and craftsmanship lavished on this collection.

Coquille D’Oeuf
Price: US$101,000

Images via Louis Vuitton