Last November, Louis Vuitton caused a frenzy within the football community by featuring Lionel Messi and his nemesis, Cristiano Ronaldo, in a campaign that saw the leading players facing off in a deadlock game of chess.

While it ended in a stalemate, a winner eventually emerged; it didn’t take long for one of them to prove his supremacy and that there could only be one winner. Incidentally, the champion won more than just a tournament; he also bagged another campaign with the luxury house, but this time, on his own. Here, Messi, photographed by Glen Luchford for the “Horizons Never End” campaign, shows a different facet of his character.

Relaxed while being captured en route to his next destination, a nod to his upcoming departure from PSG, the football legend switches out his jersey for a suit and Horizon suitcase. In one of the still images, he appears seated inside an airport terminal with his legs stretched out on the Horizon rolling cabin bag.

In another, he sits on an iconic Louis Vuitton trunk placed on the tarmac, poised to
strike out for far-flung adventures with his Horizon luggage in tow. Monogram football underfoot, the aura of the pitch remains never far off.

Celebrating the spirit of travel, Louis Vuitton’s new campaign is also a homage to the iconic Horizon collection by one of the brand’s most influential industrial designers, Marc Newson ‒ the man behind the beaucoup travel essentials of Louis Vuitton, including the ultra-lightweight bags in a specially developed Monogram or Damier canvas that accompanied Messi in the stills.

“Marc Newson has helped Louis Vuitton reshape the art of travel since 2014,” Louis Vuitton professes. “Emblematic of the Maisonʼs heritage, the Louis Vuitton Horizon line [launched in 2016] offers unprecedented perspectives and infinite freedom [through its ingenious design, durability and superior functionality].”

In concert with the campaign’s narrative, Messi shares what horizon means to him, highlighting that “the horizon is looking to the future, letting my imagination carry me and thinking about what could happen, what the future holds ‒ all its possibilities,” in a behind the scenes video of the first chapter of the “Horizons Never End” tale.

(Images: Louis Vuitton)