Star Treatment: Custom Orders for Preferred Louis Vuitton Customers

For more than a century, Louis Vuitton has crafted some of the finest luxury handbags, wallets, luggage pieces, and sunglasses to sell at its prestigious stores. But for some lucky select customers, the items available to the general public are just a sampling of what is available. To meet special requests, the acclaimed fashion house creates a limited number of custom Louis Vuitton handbags and other items for esteemed patrons. The special orders department is housed at the company's Paris, France headquarters.

There are around 600 special requests processed by Louis Vuitton in any given year. Below is just a short list of some of the many extravagant special requests that have been commissioned by Louis Vuitton over the years:

• A Japanese Kabuki artist once ordered an oversized makeup trunk with detachable legs.

• For a Saudi prince, the company once commissioned a custom travel trunk.

• Louis Vuitton created two custom iPod cases to meet the needs of famous designer Karl Lagerfeld.

• Upscale travelers have ordered special cases in which to carry their minibars, backgammon sets, and other novelty items.

• The fashion house once commissioned a padded Louis Vuitton bag specifically designed to carry a birthday cake into a party.

• A 19th-century Italian explorer once ordered a lavish Louis Vuitton trunk to take along on an African expedition.

• Louis Vuitton once created a custom tea case for the maharaja of Baronda.

• One of the house's custom travel bags from the 1920s was cleverly designed to nestle inside a spare wheel hubcap.

How does honoring these special requests benefit the Louis Vuitton company? In many ways, according to the manager of the special orders department. Commissioning these outlandish custom items keeps the company's most prestigious customers satisfied and coming back for more, while also solidifying the brand's reputation as the industry's finest designer. And by making the news with these larger-than-life custom items, Louis Vuitton gets valuable publicity.

For high-profile customers that have enough money to pay, Louis Vuitton will commission the creation of a wide range of custom items -- although there are standards that must be met. A special-order item must qualify as a travel item, to remain loyal to the principles under which the company was launched. The fashion house will honor special orders for garment bags, suitcases, cosmetics bags, purses, wallets, jewelry cases, and sunglasses. Not all custom orders are honored. For instance, Louis Vuitton once refused to create a designer casket requested by a client.

The sky's the limit when it comes to ordering a custom travel piece from Louis Vuitton. Placing your order is as easy as stopping into one of Louis Vuitton's international locations, but all custom orders must be approved before they are processed. Allow six months for the completion of a custom order. During the construction process, Louis Vuitton keeps its preferred customers up-to-date with photos of the item in progress. Each customer's special-order items are assigned lock numbers that are unique to their custom collection. The company even offers the option for customers to visit the workshop to hammer in the final nail.

For a special order item, you'll pay a minimum of around $2,900, and the price can grow exponentially from there based on the size and complexity of the item. One of the most extravagant special order items was a luxury chest made with inlaid maple and ebony wood and covered in supple leather, which cost approximately $21,000.

When you order a custom Louis Vuitton purse or accessory to be commissioned just for you, you can rest assured you'll be carrying a completely unique travel item that won't be found on the arm of any of your fellow travelers.