Biography of Louis Vuitton
Louis Vuitton (August 4, 1821 – February 27, 1892),
eponymous founder of the company, was born in the department of
Jura,
France. In 1835, he moved to
Paris. The trip from his hometown to Paris was over 400 kilometers (249 mi), and he traveled the distance by foot. On his way there, he picked up a series of odd jobs to pay for his journey. There, he became an apprentice
Layetier to prominent households.
Because of his well established reputation in his fields,
Napoleon III of France appointed Vuitton as
Layetier to his wife, Empress
Eugénie de Montijo. Through his experience with French royalty, he developed advanced knowledge of what made a good traveling case. It was then that he began to design his own luggage, setting the foundations for LV Co.
From foundations to World War II
The Louis Vuitton label was founded by Monsieur Vuitton in 1854 on Rue Neuve des Capucines in
Paris.
In 1858, Monsieur Vuitton introduced his flat-bottom trunks with trianon canvas, making them lightweight and airtight.
Before the introduction of Vuitton's trunks, rounded-top trunks were used, generally to promote water run off, and thus could not be stacked. It was Vuitton's gray Trianon canvas flat trunk that allowed the ability to stack with ease for voyages. Becoming successful and prestigious, many other luggagemakers began to imitate LV's style and design.
In 1867, the company participated in the universal exhibition in Paris.
To protect against the duplication of his look, he changed the Trianon design to a beige and brown stripes design in 1876.
By 1885, the company opened its first store in
London,
England on Oxford Street.
Soon thereafter, due to the continuing imitation of his look, in 1888, the Damier Canvas pattern was created by Louis Vuitton, bearing a logo that reads "marque L. Vuitton déposée," which translates to "mark L. Vuitton deposited" or, roughly, "L. Vuitton trademark". In 1892, Louis Vuitton died, and the company's management passed to his son.
After the death of his father, Georges Vuitton began a campaign to build the company into a worldwide corporation, exhibiting the company's products at the
Chicago World's Fair in 1893. In 1896, the company launched the signature Monogram Canvas and made the worldwide patents on it.
Its graphic symbols, including quatrefoils and flowers (as well as the LV monogram), were based on the trend of using Japanese and Oriental designs in the late
Victorian era. The patents later proved to be successful in stopping counterfeiting. In this same year, Georges traveled to the
United States, where he toured various cities (such as
New York,
Philadelphia, and
Chicago), selling Vuitton products during the visit. In 1901, the Louis Vuitton Company introduced the
Steamer Bag, a smaller piece of luggage designed to be kept inside Vuitton luggage trunks.
By 1913, the Louis Vuitton Building opened on the
Champs-Elysees. It was the largest travel-goods store in the world at the time. Stores also opened in
New York,
Bombay,
Washington,
London,
Alexandria, and
Buenos Aires as
World War I began. Afterwards, in 1930, the Keepall bag was introduced. During 1932, LV introduced the
Noé bag. This bag was originally made for champagne vintners to transport bottles. Soon thereafter, the Louis Vuitton
Speedy bag was introduced (both are still manufactured today).
In 1936 Georges Vuitton died, and his son, Gaston-Louis Vuitton, assumed control of the company.
During the
World War II, Louis Vuitton collaborated with the Nazis during the German occupation of France. The French book
Louis Vuitton, A French Saga, authored by French journalist Stephanie Bonvicini and published by Paris-based Editions Fayard
tells how members of the Vuitton family actively aided the puppet government led by Marshal
Philippe Pétain and increased their wealth from their business affairs with the Germans. The family set up a factory dedicated to producing artifacts glorifying Pétain, including more than 2,500 busts. Petain's
Vichy regime was responsible for the deportation of French Jews to German concentration camps.
Caroline Babulle, a spokeswoman for the publisher, Fayard, said: "They have not contested anything in the book, but they are trying to bury it by pretending it doesn't exist."
Responding to the book's release in 2004, a spokesman for LVMH said: "This is ancient history. The book covers a period when it was family-run and long before it became part of LVMH. We are diverse, tolerant and all the things a modern company should be."
An LVMH spokesman told the satirical magazine Le Canard Enchainé "We don't deny the facts, but regrettably the author has exaggerated the Vichy episode,". That publication was the only French periodical to mention the book.
1945 through 2000
During this period, Louis Vuitton incorporated its leather into most of its products, ranging from small purses and wallets to larger pieces of luggage. In order to broaden its line, the company revamped its signature Monogram Canvas in 1959
to make it more supple, allowing it to be used for purses, bags, and wallets. It is believed that in the 1960s, counterfeiting returned as a greater issue to continue on into the 21st century.
In 1966, the
Papillon was launched (a cylindrical bag that is still popular today). By 1977 with annual revenue up to 70 million
Francs ($14.27 million
USD).
A year later, the label opened its first stores in
Japan: in
Tokyo and
Osaka). In 1983, the company joined with
America's Cup to form the
Louis Vuitton Cup, a preliminary competition (known as an eliminatory regatta) for the yacht race. Louis Vuitton later expanded its presence in
Asia with the opening of a store in
Taipei,
Taiwan in 1983 and
Seoul,
South Korea in 1984. In the following year, 1985, the Epi leather line was introduced.
1987 saw the creation of
LVMH.
Moët et Chandon and
Hennessy, leading manufacturers of
champagne and
cognac, merged respectively with Louis Vuitton to form the luxury goods conglomerate. Profits for 1988 were reported to have been up by 49% more than in 1987. By 1989, Louis Vuitton came to operate 130 stores worldwide.
Entering the 1990s, Yves Carcelle was named president of LV, and in 1992, his brand opened its first
Chinese location at the Palace Hotel in
Beijing. Further products became introduced such as the Taiga leather line in 1993, and the literature collection of
Voyager Avec... in 1994. In 1996, the celebration of the Centennial of the Monogram Canvas was held in seven cities worldwide.
After introducing its pen collection in 1997, Louis Vuitton made Marc Jacobs alongside Jae its Art Directors the following year in 1998.
In March of the following year, they designed and introduced the company's first "
prêt-à-porter" line of clothing for men and women. Also in this year products introduced included the Monogram Vernis line, the LV scrapbooks, and the
Louis Vuitton City Guide.
The last events in the 20th century were the release of the mini monogram line in 1999, the opening of the first store in
Africa in
Marrakech, Morocco in 2000, and finally the auction at the International Film Festival in
Venice, Italy, where the
vanity case "amfAR" designed by
Sharon Stone was sold with the proceeds going to
The Foundation for AIDS Research (also in 2000).
2001 to present day
By 2001,
Stephen Sprouse, in collaboration with
Marc Jacobs, designed a limited-edition line of Vuitton bags
that featured
graffiti written over the monogram pattern. The graffiti read
Louis Vuitton and as well, on certain bags, the name of the bag (such as Keepall and Speedy). Certain pieces, which featured the graffiti without the Monogram Canvas background, were only available on Louis Vuitton's
V.I.P. customer list. Jacobs also created the charm bracelet, the first ever piece of jewelry from LV, within the same year.
In 2002, the Tambour watch collection was introduced.
During this year, the LV building in
Tokyo's
Ginza district was opened, and the brand collaborated with
Bob Wilson for its Christmas windows sceneography. In 2003,
Takashi Murakami,
in collaboration with
Marc Jacobs, masterminded the new Monogram Multicolore canvas range of handbags and accessories. This range included the monograms of the standard Monogram Canvas, but in 33 different colors on either a white or black background. (The classic canvas features gold monograms on a brown background.) Murakami also created the Cherry Blossom pattern, in which smiling cartoon faces in the middle of pink and yellow flowers were sporadically placed atop the Monogram Canvas. This pattern appeared on a limited number of pieces. The production of this
limited-edition run was discontinued in June 2003. Within 2003, the stores in
Moscow,
Russia and in
New Delhi,
India were opened, the Utah and Suhali leather lines were released, and the 20
th anniversary of the LV Cup was held.
In 2004, Louis Vuitton celebrated its 150
th anniversary. The brand also inaugurated stores in
New York City (on
Fifth Avenue),
São Paulo ,
Mexico City ,
Cancun and
Johannesburg. It also opened its first global store in
Shanghai. By 2005, Louis Vuitton reopened its
Champs-Élysées store in Paris designed by the American Architect Eric Carlson (reputed to be the largest and most successful LV store in the world), and released the Speedy watch collection. In 2006, LV held the inauguration of the Espace Louis Vuitton on its 7
th floor.
In 2008, Louis Vuitton released the Damier Graphite canvas. The canvas features the classic Damier pattern but in black and grey, giving it a masculine look and urban feel.
In 2010, Louis Vuitton opened what it described as their most luxurious store in
London.
