Louis Vuitton

Louis Vuitton is a world-renowned luggage and leather goods brand . It was founded by Louis Vuitton in Paris, France in 1854. In 1987, it merged with French wine company Moët Hennessy to form LVMH , becoming the world's largest luxury goods group. In addition to suitcases and handbags, it also involves fashion, jewelry, glasses, leather shoes, watches, perfumes and other fields.

· Brand History ·

The brand's founder, Louis Vuitton ( 1821-1892), was born in Anchay, a village on the southern border of France. At the age of 16, he traveled to Paris and became an apprentice to luggage maker Monsieur Maréchal . He later established a reputation for his outstanding craftsmanship and was hired by French Queen Eugénie de Montijo as a personal luggage maker.


Louis Vuitton officially founded his own brand in 1854 and opened his first store at 4 Avenue Neuve des Capucines in Paris . Four years later, he launched the first flat-top suitcase , which was made of light, durable and waterproof Trianon gray canvas as the outer skin and a poplar frame. It could hold more items than traditional suitcases and was easy to ship by train or cargo ship, so it was very popular among travelers. Due to the increasing demand for orders, Louis Vuitton established a new workshop in Asnières sur Seine on the outskirts of Paris in 1859. He built a family mansion next to the workshop, which now serves as a museum to preserve all the important works and item documents of the brand to date.

After Louis Vuitton's travel trunks were launched, they were copied by various leather goods merchants. After the Trianon striped canvas travel trunk was launched in 1872 , due to the proliferation of counterfeits, Louis Vuitton designed the Rayée striped canvas based on the original pattern, which was more difficult to copy. However, the counterfeiting phenomenon still could not be eliminated, and he finally decided to add the "Louis Vuitton registered trademark" to the canvas pattern, and launched the Damier checkered canvas in 1888, which is still used today .

At the same time, considering the safety of the suitcases, Louis Vuitton invented the single lock system "Tumbler lock" with two spring buckles in 1886 , which is still widely used today.

In 1892, after Louis Vuitton passed away, his son Georges inherited the company , and the brand began to embark on the development path of a global enterprise. It participated in the Chicago World's Fair in 1893 and then officially entered the US market. The "Monogram"

pattern commonly used by the Louis Vuitton brand today began in 1896. It is a combination of various symbolic symbols and Louis Vuitton's trademark. It is inspired by the Japanese "pattern" design of the Victorian period in Britain and is one of its most classic patterns.

In 1914, Louis Vuitton's global flagship store opened on the Champs-Elysées in Paris, France , becoming the world's largest travel goods store at the time. Branches were opened in cities such as New York, Mumbai, Washington, London, Alexandria, and Buenos Aires, gradually consolidating the brand's position.

Since the end of the 19th century, the Louis Vuitton brand has begun to design canvas travel bags and handbags, and has successively launched the Steamer series (1901), Keepall series (1930), Speedy series (1930), Noé series (1932), Alma series (1934), etc. The Steamer series is small and can be put into a suitcase, the Keepall series is suitable for light travel, the Speedy series is Louis Vuitton's first daily bag, and the Noé series is the world's first bucket bag . The Alma series was originally a private custom product for Coco Chanel , and later sold to the public with her permission.

After the end of World War II, in the face of economic depression, the Louis Vuitton brand once again expanded its product range and began to produce small items such as wallets and handbags. The Monogram pattern was redesigned in 1959 so that it could be used in products other than luggage. From the 1960s to the 1980s, it began to further expand its market into Asia, opening branches in Tokyo, Osaka, Taipei, Seoul and other places. In 1985, the brand established a leather production line for the first time and launched the "Epi leather" series .

In 1987, the Louis Vuitton brand merged with the French wine company Moët Hennessy to form the Louis Vuitton Group (LVMH) , becoming the world's largest luxury goods group . Currently, the group owns 70 brands in the fields of wine, fashion and leather goods, perfume and cosmetics, jewelry and watches.

LV's first artistic director was American designer Marc Jacobs , who served from 1997 to 2013, during which time he collaborated with many artists, including American artist Stephen Sprouse , Japanese artists Takashi Murakami and Yayoi Kusama .

The current women's art director, Nicolas Ghesquière , has been in office since 2013 and has launched the Capucines and Petit Malle series , and collaborated with American artist Jeff Koons to launch the Masters series .

In 2011, Kim Jones became the men's art director, and in 2017, he launched the "Louis Vuitton × Supreme" series with Supreme . In 2018, Virgil Abloh succeeded Kim Jones as the men's art director.

·Chronology of major events·