May 2020 seems to have been a pretty active month for Louis Vuitton. After they kicked off the month with several price increases across their entire collection (for the second time this year alone), they re-opened many of their stores across the globe after they had been closed for several weeks due to the global pandemic. The popular French fashion house ended the month with the release of a new bag – the LV Pont 9 bag.
The bag gets its name from the oldest bridge in Paris, the Pont Neuf. The stone bridge sits on the River Seine and is very close to the Louis Vuitton headquarters in Paris.
Photo credit: Louis Vuitton
Now, before jumping into a full review of the pros and cons of the LV Pont 9, let’s get a couple observations out of the way.
First off, Louis Vuitton seem to be trying something new with this bag. The gold encircled LV logo, which appears twice, is way more flashy than the more subtle LV logo usually seen on leather Louis Vuitton bags. In fact, it bears a similar look to the flap logos you would see on a Gucci GG Marmont bag or most YSL bags. In all honesty, I’m not quite sure that this new LV version works well, especially given the fact that logo not only appears on the flap, but also on the leather strap of the bag.
Secondly, it seems like Louis Vuitton have pushed this bag to a large amount of fashion influencers and celebrities for advertising. The Pont 9 is probably the most seen LV bag on Instagram at the moment. Tactics like these have worked well for Louis Vuitton in the past, with bags like the Multi Pochette Accessoires becoming extremely popular and heavily sought-after even at heavily inflated prices due to low availability.
Louis Vuitton Pont 9 Design
Moving on to the actual design of the bag, Louis Vuitton stated that the LV Pont 9 is a “new leather bag that exudes both a modern allure and a timeless sensibility”. I don’t fully disagree with this statement, given the fact that you can never go wrong with a leather, medium-sized flap handbag in a neutral colour.
The Pont 9 shoulder bag is a rectangular flap bag which measures at 23 cm x 15 cm x 8 cm. It is made out of smooth calfskin leather, which makes the bag more prone to scratches than bags which are made out of rougher or grained leather. The trim of the bag is also made out of smooth calfskin leather and the interior is lined with smooth cowhide.
As already mentioned above, the bag features two encircle LV logos in gold hardware – one on the flap of the bag, which doubles as a magnetic closure, and another on the adjustable shoulder strap that comes with the bag. The strap has a minimum drop of 47 cm and a maximum drop of 52 cm.
The interior of the bag is split into two compartments which also include a flat pocket at the back and one zipped pocket for keeping items safe.
The LV Pont 9 bag is available in six colours – Black, Summer gold, Storm blue, Cream and Dahlia pink.
Given its shape, style and size, the LV Pont 9 bag is a decent bag which can carry a good amount of day to day necessities and take you from day to night if you don’t carry too many items. On the other hand, the logo does make the bag seem a little flashy, so it all depends on how comfortable you are with making a luxury fashion statement on a day to day basis.
LV Pont 9 Price
On release and at the time of writing this review, the Louis Vuitton Pont 9 is priced at US$3,900 / €2,870 / £2,680.
For comparison purposes, the pricing is not too different to other leather bags by Louis Vuitton. On a personal opinion level, however, I would much prefer to spend ~$4k on a bag which is more likely to remain a permanent item in a collection as a timeless piece. That being said, time will tell on whether that is the case or not for the LV Pont 9 bag.
Where to Buy the LV Pont 9 Bag
It’s no surprise that most colours of the Pont 9 bag are sold out on the Louis Vuitton website and in store. If you can’t find the one that you are looking for, it is worth trying your luck on eBay, which normally has both new and used versions of popular Louis Vuitton and other designer bags for sale. You can see the selection currently available on eBay below:
What are your thoughts on Louis Vuitton’s Pont 9 bag? Are you happy with this new style of leather bag from LV? Or do you much prefer their canvas or more subtle leather selections? Let us know in the comments below!
