E-sports have entered the mainstream, with Louis Vuitton partnering video game publisher Riot Games to create a trunk to hold the trophy for this year’s League Of Legends World Championship, an annual tournament for the popular online action-strategy game.
The bespoke case will incorporate cutting-edge, high-tech elements inspired by the League Of Legends universe – to be revealed this month.
(Related: Louis Vuitton: Why this French luxury label is opening its doors to the world)
No word on whether there is a large overlap in gamers and proponents of high fashion, but this isn’t the first time Louis Vuitton has dipped its toes into the world of gaming. It previously chose digitally-rendered character Lightning from role-playing game Final Fantasy 13 to be the face of its spring 2016 line. Meanwhile, e-sports will be making an unprecedented appearance as a medal event in 2019’s Southeast Asian Games, joining bridge on the growing list of sedentary events.
Perhaps the largest indicator of e-sports’ rise is the money involved – just over US$34 million (S$47 million) was seen at this year’s prize pool for another action-strategy game, Dota 2. All five players from the winning team took home about US$3 million each, while Tiger Woods, in comparison, won about US$2 million for the 2019 Masters. Will there come a time when business deals are discussed over a rousing round of Mario Kart?
(Related: Louis Vuitton teams up with Jeff Koons to launch new Masters Collection)
