TRUNK SHOW
Louis Vuitton opened a box-making workshop in Paris in 1854 that specialized in packing customers’ clothes for travel. He then invented the flat-lid trunk as a more practical solution for stacking than the popular round-top trunks of the day. The flat-lid design was quickly prized for its ability to withstand the roughest of treatment.

A century and a half later, Texas designer Steve Brock also prized the trunks for their aesthetics, and set out to obtain every worthy trunk he could find. Today Brock’s gallery, Hermitage Antiques Ltd. in Dallas, claims the largest collection of vintage Vuitton trunks in the U.S.     

Hermitage specializes in 18th- to early-20th-century European antiques imported primarily from France and Italy. “We’re also known for our unique collections of antique safes and vintage amusements,” says Debra Manning, the firm’s vice president. “Along with the vintage trunks, these novel offerings differentiate us from other antiques dealers.”

Visit the 8,500-square-foot showroom at 1313 Slocum St., Suite 101. For more information, log on to hermitagedallas.com, or call (214) 752-2229.


ENLIGHTENED DESIGN
When he was 10 years old, Mike Brannon wrote then-Gov. Ronald Reagan protesting the deforestation of California’s redwoods. This early attitude of conservation and renewal, along with Brannon’s self-described “packrat” nature, has resulted in Lightlink Lighting. The San Antonio-based company produces a line of lighting fixtures utilizing sustainable materials.

“From childhood, I just couldn’t throw anything away if it had any life left in it,” admits Brannon. “This has become both a paradigm for the company and also a condition from which I’m still recovering.”

Brannon says Lightlink’s designs are derived from a “Zen/Industrial” perspective. The quartet of Contemporary fixtures pictured is manufactured from  handmade recycled papers of bamboo, mango and banana fibers set on recycled steel and aluminum frames.

Lightlink Lighting’s showroom is located at 207 Eleanor Ave., and is open by appointment. The lights also are displayed at galleries in Austin and Fredericksburg, Texas; visit lightlinklighting.com for exact locations. More information is available by calling (210) 414-3695.