Historical Figure
Louis Vuitton
d. 1892
French international fashion house
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Biography
Louis Vuitton Malletier SAS is a French luxury fashion house and company founded in 1854 by Louis Vuitton. The label's LV monogram appears on most of its products, ranging from luxury bags and leather goods to ready-to-wear, shoes, perfumes, watches, jewellery, accessories, sunglasses and books. Louis Vuitton is one of the world's leading international fashion houses. It sells its products through standalone boutiques, lease departments in high-end department stores, and through the e-commerce section of its website. Louis Vuitton merged with Moët Hennessy in 1987 to create LVMH, of which it is a subsidiary.
Timeline
The story of Louis Vuitton, told in moments.
Apprenticed to Monsieur Marechal, a Parisian trunk maker and packer. Vuitton learned to pack clothes for wealthy clients, including Empress Eugenie. The job taught him what rich people wanted in luggage.
Opened his own shop at 4 Rue Neuve-des-Capucines in Paris. His innovation was flat-topped trunks that could be stacked, replacing the rounded tops that shed rain but wasted space. Simple idea. It changed the industry.
Introduced trunks covered in grey Trianon canvas, lighter and more airtight than leather. Copycats appeared almost immediately. Vuitton would spend decades fighting counterfeiters.
Introduced the striped canvas pattern to combat counterfeiting. Didn't work. His son Georges later created the LV monogram in 1896 for the same reason. Also didn't stop the fakes.
Artifacts (15)
Reseffekter. Koffert från Louis Vuitton.
Holmén, Erik Leonard (Photographer)
La Renaissance de l'art français et des industries de luxe, numéros 1 à 6, 1924
Collectif
Autoportrait de Paul Cézanne (Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris) (31534573960)
Paul Cézanne
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