Louis Vuitton began his career as a box maker and an apprentice layetier (is derived from "thin layer" describing a small tunk where valuable jewels were preserved,and it cam to be synonymous with the process of packing).
However the packer did not merely put items into cases,he actually measured the dimensions of everything to be transported before creating the cases or boxes,and choosing the appropriate filling to put between the layers,to keep clothes dry and protected,for instance.
Vuitton's expertise at these tasks soon eraned him an appointment as layetier to Empress Eugenie de Montijo,the wife of Napoleon IIIof France,propelling him into the service of the European haut monde.
Vuitton opened his own store in 1854,the Maison Louis Vuitton on the rue Neuve-des-Capucines in Paris,where he began to design his own luggage.
His first innovation was the half-topped trunk to replace the round-topped trunks known as humpback or camelback trunks,which have been constructed to allow water to run down the sides.Water penedration was not a concern with the Vuitton design,he added canvas to the outside of the wooden trunk,which was then coated with shellac to protect wood and render it waterproof.
The reputation was such that many other luggage makers began to copy his design,in 1888 the Damier Canvas chessboard pattern (reintroduced in 1996) was created by Vuitton bearing a logo that read "merque L Vuitton deposse or LVuitton trademark".
In 1982 Louis Vuitton died and the company's management passed on to his son George.In 1896,the legentary Monagram Canvas was launched,and is still familiar today.It consisted of the intersecting LV initials and a curved beige diamond with quatrefoils and its negative,a beige circle with a four-leafed flower inset.In 1901 the Steamer bag introduced,it was a smaller piece of luggage designed to be rolled up and kept inside the Vuitton luggage trunks.Its tiny handle was designed to hang on the back of the cabin door as a sort of laundry bag.
In 1914 Louis Vuitton opened on the Champs Elysees,the largest travel good store in the world at the time (in 1885 the company opened it's first store in London's Oxford Street).
text
from the book indicated below
The photos and the texts on this blog are sourced from books and by various sites from the internet (apart from the ones taken by me). Original source is always mentioned. If you feel your photorights have been violated or they have been presented in a negative way, please send me mail. I´ll remove them from my blog immediately.
Thank you
No comments:
Post a Comment