louis vuitton - South Africa Deluxe

38 I South Africa Deluxe I ART & CULTURE
h i sto r y I 39
LOUIS VUITTON
The history of an exceptional luxury brand
Louis Vuitton was born on the 4th of August 1821 in Anchay in the Jura region of France. He
came from five generations of joiners, carpenters and millers who farmed the difficult and
demanding region with its extreme climate and long winter months. At 14, Vuitton left home,
making his way across the French countryside, performing casual labour for food and lodging
and broadening his life experience outside the small hamlet of his youth.
In 1837, after two years on the road, the young man found himself in Paris, a city of contrasts, where incredible wealth was
juxtaposed with intolerable poverty. It was here that he apprenticed under the watchful eye of Monsieur Maréchal, a boxmaker and packer on Rue Saint-Honoré.
Box-makers and packers were hired by high society whenever they travelled, visiting the home, and measuring each item
that was to be taken on the journey. From clothing and furniture to delicate individual items of jewellery, each item had to
have its own box. The packer was responsible for wrapping each piece and placing it in the box and would often be called
upon to unpack it, just as carefully on the other end.
During his tenure with Monsieur Maréchal, Vuitton’s experience and ability saw him move from apprentice to senior clerk,
specialising in the packing of elegant clothing. It was the skills learned during his seventeen year tenure with Monsieur
Maréchal that would serve Vuitton well when he opened his own business.
A legend is born
Portrait of Louis Vuitton (1821–1892),
founder of the House of Louis Vuitton, 1884
Portrait of Georges Vuitton (1857–1936),
by Eugène Pirou, 1895
Portrait of Gaston L. Vuitton
(1883 –1970), 1925
Photos: © Archives Louis Vuitton
In 1854, Vuitton married seventeen-year-old Clémence-Émilie Parriaux and opened his own box-making and packing
workshop at 4 Rue Neuve-des-Capucines near the Place Vendôme. While his reputation preceded him and his business
quickly became successful, Vuitton wanted to expand his offering and expertise; he was looking for a new challenge. He
drew on his knowledge and love of wood craft and began offering trunks to his clientele. These he made personally in the
workshop in Rue du Rocher in Little Poland.
At the time the travel trunks had domed tops to ensure that any water that fell on them rolled off quickly, but this
created a problem when attempting to stack the trunks, causing slippage and damage to the trunks and their contents.
4 0 I South Africa Deluxe I ART & CULTURE
h i sto r y I 4 1
Trunk bed checkered canvas (98 x 45 x 56 cm), 1892. Belonging to
Gaston Louis Vuitton, it is marked with the initial "V" painted
in white on red and blue funds.
The trunk-makers of the day also favoured sows leather,
bristle-side-out, which gave the trunks a rustic and unrefined
look. Vuitton sought to improve on the appearance,
protection and practicality factors of the trunk and his
first was produced in a light poplar wood, strengthened by
metal hooping.
An iconic brand
Vuitton continued his quest for innovation and improvement.
He was aware that the use of leather in the trunk’s casing would
impregnate the trunk’s contents with a strong, unpleasant odour. To
combat this problem, he developed a canvas treated with a flour-based
glue, in a discreet yet modern shade of light grey called “Trianon grey”.
The fabric was not only substantially lighter than leather, but it was
also completely waterproof. This allowed him to change the shape of
the lid from domed to flat, a first for trunks of that generation. In 1858, he displayed the first of these flat-top Trianon
grey trunks in his store and his creations met with instant success.
He was challenged again when a former employee left to start his own trunk-making business. In order to distinguish
his trunks from these imitations, he created a new style, with nailed beechwood slats encircling the grey canvas. His new
trunks were so popular that he had to take new premises at 3 Neuve-des-Capucines, which became his workshop, while
the store at 4 Neuve-des-Capucines was used solely for the sale of the trunks.
Due to the continuing imitation of his trunks, Vuitton would go on to change their appearance numerous times between
1867 and his death in 1892. The Trianon design gave way to a beige and brown stripe design in 1876, which in turn was
changed to the Damier Canvas pattern bearing a logo stating “L. Vuitton registered trademark.”
Keeping it in the family
Wardrobe pour dame en Toile Monogram
au pochoir, personnalisé avec un logo et des
Onbandes
Louis Vuitton’s
death,1922
the company’s
management was passed on to his son Georges, who began a campaign to grow
rouge et noire,
- vue de profil
the company into a global corporation. In 1896, the signature Monogram Canvas complete with patents was launched.
The patents would later prove successful in stemming the tide of counterfeit Louis Vuitton products.
On the death of Georges Vuitton in 1936, his son Gaston-Louis became the third generation of Vuitton’s to take the reins
as head of Maison Vuitton. He was instrumental in expanding the Louis Vuitton leather line, revamping the Monogram
Canvas in 1959 to make it more supple for use across an increasing number of products from purses to bags and wallets.
Photos: © Archives Louis Vuitton
Louis Vuitton’s early innovative trunks became the heart of Maison Louis Vuitton and were the first in a long line of luggage
and fashion accessories that would see the Vuitton brand become synonymous worldwide with elegance, quality, style
and sophistication. Today the Louis Vuitton brand and the LV monogram are consistently amongst the world’s most
valuable brands. One wonders if Louis Vuitton ever envisaged the legacy he was creating when he opened his first store
back in 1854. Lindsay Grubb