As the Apollo moon landings chalk up their 40th anniversary, astronauts have been given a glamour shot. Louis Vuitton, he of the handbags, has in his latest ad campaign shots of Buzz Aldrin, the second man on the Moon, Jim Lovell who guided a faulty Apollo 13 back to Earth and Sally Ride who was the first American woman in space, on the Challenger shuttle in 1983.

LV’s head of communications, Antoine Arnault, says "With this latest impressive execution of the award-winning Core Values campaign, Louis Vuitton and its advertising agency Ogilvy & Mather have proved their ability to push the boundaries once again.”

Yes indeed, and Antoine goes on: “Space represents the final frontier, and the Moon is the destination beyond which no man has yet travelled."

The photos are snapped by photographer Annie Leibovitz and will be accompanied by a website and filmed interviews with the three astronauts, to “discuss how the experience of space changed their lives, offering a fascinating insight into Annie Leibovitz’s print visual.” (press release). I’m still searching for the luxury luggage link, anyone else who can read through the press release and find one, please let me know.

Also, apparently ol’ Louis is donating “a significant portion” of the astronauts’ fees to Al Gore’s The Climate Project on behalf of the three astronauts. I wonder whether they got paid as much as supermodels do? Would Buzz Aldrin even wake up for less than $10,000?

Again, I’m not sure what this has to do with handbags. Maybe in future as astronauts enter the shuttle, or whatever vessel hoiks them up to space next, we’ll see them carry onboard their toothbrushes in little goodie bags emblazoned with the famous LV logo.

Image: Louis Vuitton