Audrey Hepburn and the Louis Vuitton Speedy 25: the 1930 Express at 30 cm, her 1965 request for a smaller bag
One account hedges the story as folklore and has her asking for a smaller Keepall, the house's larger travel bag; another says the Speedy; both put the request in 1965. Sizes 35 and 40 had followed the 30.
Louis Vuitton (@louisvuitton) closes Paris Fashion Week on 6 October. Photo: Anefo, Nationaal Archief, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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The post, as it ran
01THE LOUIS VUITTON SPEEDY 25 EXISTS BECAUSE AUDREY HEPBURN ASKED FOR IT. IN 1965 SHE ASKED THE HOUSE FOR A SMALLER VERSION OF ITS BAG.
02THE SPEEDY HAD BEEN LAUNCHED IN 1930 AS THE EXPRESS, IN ONE SIZE: 30 CENTIMETRES WIDE.
03THE 25 THAT FOLLOWED HER REQUEST IS NAMED, LIKE THE 30, FOR ITS WIDTH IN CENTIMETRES.
04AUDREY HEPBURN ARRIVING AT SCHIPHOL AIRPORT, AMSTERDAM, ON 16 SEPTEMBER 1966.
05ON 5 NOVEMBER 1966 SHE WAS PHOTOGRAPHED AT HEATHROW, LEAVING FOR HER HOME IN SWITZERLAND, A LOUIS VUITTON BAG IN HAND.
06HEPBURN DIED IN TOLOCHENAZ, SWITZERLAND, ON 20 JANUARY 1993, AGED 63.