Office writing desk, Stokowski model, in Monogram canvas. [Photo provided to China Daily]

"Having curated some 110 exhibitions about fashion, I was a little tired of dresses," says Saillard. "The idea of working around the trunks (for the Louis Vuitton exhibition)-an almost architectural object-attracted me."

He says people should understand that creating trunks is a craft born from a personal initiative.

"I hope that when they visit the exhibition, they will have the impression of a journey, a dream."

Saillard spent six months at the Louis Vuitton archives in a Paris suburb to prepare for the exhibition. He approached the show with "a sense of fantasy, as if Tintin (the Belgian comic character) was the curator, to appeal to a younger audience".

The exhibition is likely to be an unusual journey for many visitors. They will first see a 1906 trunk, an iconic box that brings together all the elements of the Louis Vuitton identity-wooden struts, ribbon tufting, locks and the brand's monogrammed canvas. Then visitors will enter a space of wood.