Louis Vuitton wins World Cup of product placement

Louis Vuitton wins World Cup of product placement

Fabio Cannavaro carries a Louis Vuitton case into Soccer City before the final World Cup match on Sunday (Image: Action Images)

Perhaps the real winner of yesterday’s final World Cup game wasn’t Spain at all—it was Louis Vuitton. In one of the most stunning acts of product placement in the history of soccer—or perhaps sports in general—the FIFA trophy was presented on the pitch in the monogrammed Louis Vuitton travel case pictured above (though, frankly, we’re not sure what’s hotter: the designer case, or Fabio Cannavaro, the Italian soccer pro carrying it).

The one-of-a-kind case was specially handcrafted by a single artisan at the original Louis Vuitton workshop in Asnières, outside Paris. Fashion accessory aficionados will recognize the design as reminiscent of the classic Louis Vuitton luggage line, with a solid brass lock to protect some of the world’s most coveted bling: the trophy is 6 kg of solid, 18-carat gold, with a base of semi-precious malachite.

No word yet on whether the team actually used the travel case as they jetted back to Madrid overnight from South Africa; the players had a Monday meeting at the Royal Palace with the king of Spain, followed by a three-mile parade and a triumphant trophy hoisting at the Príncipe Pío.

Look for knock-offs of the case on Yonge Street by sundown.