Louis Vuitton (designer)
Encyclopedia
Louis Vuitton was the founder of the world-famous Louis Vuitton brand
Louis Vuitton
Louis Vuitton Malletier – commonly referred to as Louis Vuitton , or shortened to LV – is a French fashion house founded in 1854 by Louis Vuitton. The label is well known for its LV monogram, which is featured on most products, ranging from luxury trunks and leather goods to ready-to-wear, shoes,...

 of leather goods now owned by LVMH
LVMH
LVMH Moët Hennessy • Louis Vuitton S.A., better known as LVMH, is a French multinational luxury goods conglomerate headquartered in Paris, Île-de-France, France. The company was formed after the 1987 merger of fashion house Louis Vuitton with Moët Hennessy, a company formed after the 1971 merger...

. He had established a reputation in his fields of making luggage, thus was appointed as trunk-maker to Empress Eugénie de Montijo
Eugénie de Montijo
Doña María Eugenia Ignacia Augustina de Palafox-Portocarrero de Guzmán y Kirkpatrick, 16th Countess of Teba and 15th Marquise of Ardales; 5 May 1826 – 11 July 1920), known as Eugénie de Montijo , was the last Empress consort of the French from 1853 to 1871 as the wife of Napoleon III, Emperor of...

, wife of Napoleon III. Through his experience with French royalty, he developed advanced knowledge of what made a good travelling case. It was then that he began to design his own luggage, setting the foundations for LV Co.

Biography

Vuitton was born in the department of Jura, France. In 1835, he moved to Paris. The trip from his hometown to Paris was over 400 kilometres (248.5 mi), and he travelled 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
Malletier
A malletier is, in French, literally a trunk-maker, or manufacturer of luggage and suitcases. .-Trunkmaking:French philosopher Denis Diderot and Jean d'Alembert made mention of a Malletier and his techniques in their Encyclopédie, ou Dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des métiers et des arts :...

to prominent households. Because of his well established reputation in his fields, Napoleon III of France
Napoleon III of France
Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte was the President of the French Second Republic and as Napoleon III, the ruler of the Second French Empire. He was the nephew and heir of Napoleon I, christened as Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte...

 appointed Vuitton as Layetier
Malletier
A malletier is, in French, literally a trunk-maker, or manufacturer of luggage and suitcases. .-Trunkmaking:French philosopher Denis Diderot and Jean d'Alembert made mention of a Malletier and his techniques in their Encyclopédie, ou Dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des métiers et des arts :...

 to his wife, Empress Eugénie de Montijo
Eugénie de Montijo
Doña María Eugenia Ignacia Augustina de Palafox-Portocarrero de Guzmán y Kirkpatrick, 16th Countess of Teba and 15th Marquise of Ardales; 5 May 1826 – 11 July 1920), known as Eugénie de Montijo , was the last Empress consort of the French from 1853 to 1871 as the wife of Napoleon III, Emperor of...

. Through his experience with French royalty, he developed advanced knowledge of what made a good travelling case. It was then that he began to design his own luggage, setting the foundations for LV Co.
The Louis Vuitton label was founded by Vuitton in 1854 on Rue Neuve des Capucines in Paris. In 1858, 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 grey 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
Exposition Universelle (1867)
The Exposition Universelle of 1867 was a World Exposition held in Paris, France, in 1867.-Conception:In 1864, Emperor Napoleon III decreed that an international exposition should be held in Paris in 1867. A commission was appointed with Prince Jerome Napoleon as president, under whose direction...

. 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 into "L. Vuitton registered trademark". In 1892, Louis Vuitton died, and the company's management passed to his son, Georges.
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