League Of Its Own

Louis Vuitton lends its glam muscle to the realm of e-sports.

Portrait of Tammy Strobel

Louis Vuitton lends its glam muscle to the realm of e-sports.

E-sports have entered the mainstream, with Louis Vuitton partnering with video game publisher Riot Games to create a trunk to hold the trophy for this year’s League Of Legends World Championship, a 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.

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 their 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?