Goyard

Goyard is a luggage and leather goods manufacturer from Paris, France . Its predecessor was "House of Martin" founded in 1792. It was taken over by François Goyard in 1853 and renamed "Goyard" . It mainly deals in travel luggage, handbags, special customized leather goods and pet accessories.

· Brand History ·

Goyard 's history can be traced back to 1792. Its original name was "House of Martin" . It was a luggage workshop opened by Frenchman Pierre-François Martin in Paris, specializing in making wooden boxes, suitcases and providing packaging services.


At that time, the main business of Martin Store was to provide storage services for furniture, fragile items, fashion, dresses and flowers; to make packaging products with oilcloth, canvas and straw; to manufacture cowhide suitcases and hangers; and to sell waterproof oilcloth. As the store became more famous, Martin Store gradually won the favor of French aristocrats and became the official supplier of Princess Marie-Caroline of the Bourbon Royal Family .

The store was originally located at No. 4, Neuve des Capucines Street, on the north side of Place Vendôme in Paris . In 1834, it moved to No. 347, Saint-Honoré Street, on the south side of the square and remains there today. Due to the renumbering of Paris streets in 1856, the house number has now been changed to No. 233 .

Pierre-François Martin had no children, only a girl under his guardianship, Pauline . After she married Louis-Henri Morel , an employee in the store , the entire store was handed over to Louis-Henri and renamed "House of Morel" .

François Goyard worked as an apprentice in the Morel store since 1845, under the long-term guidance of Pierre-François and Louis-Henri . In 1852, Louis-Henri suddenly passed away, and François Goyard inherited the store and renamed it "Goyard" . He worked diligently for 37 years until 1885, when he handed over the management rights to his son Edmond , and the company name was changed to "E. Goyard Aîné" accordingly .

Goyardine canvas is the most iconic fabric of the Goyard brand. It was invented by Edmond Goyard in 1892 and was inspired by the traditional industry of the Goyard family - transporting wood by river . This is a natural coated cloth made of linen and cotton that looks like leather . It is often used as clothing for wood transporters. It has the characteristics of being strong, flexible, waterproof and anti-corrosive. For the bags made of linen fabric at that time, it was of great innovative significance.

The pattern on the canvas is inspired by floating wood rafts and is composed of countless dots arranged in a herringbone pattern of white, orange and dark dots, forming the letter "Y" in "Goyard" , while the brand name "E. Goyard" and the store address "Saint-Honoré Paris" are cleverly integrated into the pattern .

By the beginning of the 20th century, Goyard had opened branches in Monte Carlo, Monaco, Biarritz and Bordeaux, France, and set up offices in New York and London. It also participated in many world exhibitions and won numerous awards and honors, including the Gold Medal of the Milan World Expo (1906), the Gold Medal of the Franco-British Exhibition in London (1908), the Certificate of Honor awarded by the Brussels World Expo (1910), the Gold Medal of the British Latin Cultural Exhibition in London (1912), and the Triple Grand Prize of the Ghent Exhibition (1913).

Other exhibitions that Goyard participated in included the International Panama-Pacific Exhibition held in San Francisco (1915), the Strasbourg Exhibition (1919) and the International Exhibition of Decorative Arts and Modern Industries in Paris (1925).

Edmond Goyard is committed to making his store a place that attracts the elite and international clientele , including royal aristocrats such as King Kapurthala of India, Princess Aga Khan, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor of Britain, and the Marquise of Pompidou, as well as well-known figures in the fashion industry such as Jacques Cartier , Estee Lauder , Jeanne Lanvin , Coco Chanel , Christobal Balenciaga , and Karl Lagerfeld , as well as members of the Italian Agnelli family, the American Rockefeller family, the Russian Romanov family, and the Monaco Grimaldi family.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle , the British writer and father of Sherlock Holmes , once ordered a "desk suitcase" from Goyard for the purpose of writing comfortably while traveling around the world. The suitcase is equipped with a folding desk, bookshelf, clock, typewriter and storage space for documents and manuscripts, while the size and weight remain the same as ordinary suitcases.

In 1937, Robert Goyard (1893-1979) , the third generation of the family and Edmond's son, took over the company and continued to attract more customers while expanding the product range, such as the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, who first ordered Goyard products in 1939 and subsequently became lifelong loyal customers of the brand.

Because France was occupied by the German army during World War II, Goyard temporarily suspended operations until the end of the war. In 1965, Robert Goyard registered a patent for a newly developed "Woven Canvas" , which was softer than Goyardine canvas and had a more modern pattern, which promoted the design and production of new products.

After Robert Goyard's death, his granddaughter Isabelle became the fourth-generation heir to the company . Until 1998 , when French entrepreneur Jean-Michel Signoles acquired the Goyard brand , his three sons divided the work in the company's operations: Alex was responsible for special orders, suitcases and handbags, Rémi was responsible for personalized customization services, and Pierre was responsible for the printing of Goyardine canvas.

The Signoles family adopted a completely different management method from large groups, abandoning contemporary management methods such as marketing and mass production, adhering to Goyard's traditional production technology, and setting up a new workshop in Carcassonne, France. They improved the Goyardine canvas and launched 12 new colors such as red, orange, yellow, green, and sky blue in 2002, giving the brand products a new look. The limited edition pink version launched in 2008 has also become a classic now.

After entering the 21st century, Goyard continued to increase the number of stores, successively setting up stores in Europe, America and Asia, and opened the "Le Chic du Chien" store specializing in pet supplies at 352 Saint-Honoré Street, Paris in 2008. The store range covers cities and countries such as New York, London, San Francisco, Milan, Tokyo, Seoul, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Taipei, and Singapore.

·Chronology of major events·