LOUIS VUITTON

Louis Vuitton is a luxury brand from France. It all began when Louis Vuitton was 16 years old. He decided to create trunks as profession. A decision which was supposed to change his life and the life of his offspring. 

In the 19th century, industrial and personal goods were still transported by horses, boats and trains. Luggage had to be of robust construction, as they were handled roughly. Luggage could not be protected from theft and pilferage, as there were no locks on it - in addition, it were mainly the upper classes who needed to transport their personal belongings. In order to protect their stuff, the owners engaged craftsman who would make sure that the luggage and the inside were transported safely. 

During his apprenticeship at the Atelier of Monsieur Maréchal, Louis became a well-known craftsman. After 17 years of working for Monsieur Maréchal, Louis was experienced in customizing trunks and opened his own business in Paris.

The business grew so fast, that he had to expand soon and moved his businnes to Asnières. What started with 20 employees in 1859 grew to 100 employees in 1900 and 225 in 1914. Until today, Louis Vuitton products are made in Asnières.

The brand Louis Vuitton still guarantees robust construction "The bag, loaded with a 3.5kg weight, will be lifted and dropped, over and over again, for four days. This is Vuitton's test laboratory, a hi-tech torture chamber for its fabled luxury goods". Endless quality is the core value of Louis Vuitton. Combined with its internationally known prestige it represents probably the most meaningful luxury status symbol that one can wear. Louis Vuitton products never get marked down, they don't decrease in value. Louis Vuitton is not only luxury or quality, it is a statement.

In 1989 Arnault acquired Louis Vuitton - already the most popular internationally successful luxury label. The Racamier family, who owned Louis Vuitton before, focused on expanding to Japan with the consequence, that Japan made 75% of all income. In the late 1990s, fashion changed and became more colorful, hip and less conservative. Louis Vuitton stayed rather classy though, or in other words boring. In 1998 Arnault teamed up with Marc Jacobs, an american designer, New Yorker, rebel and grunge type of guy. And in 2003 Marc Jacobs hired Takashi Murakami in turn - the new product line "monograme multicolore" was born - and a success worldwide.

Until today, Louis Vuitton is a globally successful luxury brand.