No name in luggage is as glamorous as Louis Vuitton. The brand’s signature checkered brown leather wrapped in gold monograms evokes a form of travel that harkens back to the dawn of urban exploring. In our current era—where trunks and leather suitcases have been replaced by cheap roller bags and duffels—it seems that Louis Vuitton is the only brand that still speaks the lost language of luxury travel. Simply spotting an LV bag evokes images of first class train cars and VIP lounges filled with cocktails and cigars. Baggage fees and TSA scans are suddenly a million miles away. While other luggage houses boast lustrous histories of their own—Goyard, Moynat, Gucci, etc.—Louis Vuitton stands alone. How did the brand gain such identity, and why does the Parisian malletier seem to be our lone luggage connection to a lost way of travelling?The company began as a trunk making business in 1854. Like so many young men throughout history, founder Louis Vuitton (b. 1821), set out from his small village (Anchay) to the big city (Paris) in order to make his fortune.
His journey began at as an apprentice under master trunk maker Monsieur Maréchal. At just 16, Vuitton worked under one of the most famous malletier in France, the go-to craftsman for nobles and the upper class. After his apprenticeship, Vuttion branched out on his own, setting up shop in Paris. In 1858, after just four years in business, Louis Vuitton introduced his first trunk. Called the Trianon Trunk, the grey luggage carrier was the first trunk to have a flat top and bottom. While previous models featured curved ends—due to fears of waterlogging—the flat ends made the trunk stackable and more easily transported. Through sheer ingenuity, Vuitton found a way to circumvent the waterlogging problem, and in doing so made a more seamless design. As it turned out, it was just the innovation consumers were waiting for. By the early 1860s, Vuitton’s trunks were so popular that he was able to open the world’s largest store for travel items in the heart of Paris.
Napoleon III’s wife, Empress Eugenie, was the first woman of influence to spread the gospel of Vuitton. Following such a notable co-sign, his work quickly caught on amongst the Parisian elite, and shortly thereafter became a symbol of luxury throughout Continental Europe. As Vuitton customers continued to travel abroad and show off their goods, demand skyrocketed. By the end of the 19th century, the Vuitton client list read like a who’s who of the era. Industry titans and art moguls including J.P. Morgan to Henri Matisse traveled with Vuitton. Royalty both foreign and domestic—the Rothschilds, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor—swore by it.
Read more here
