Louis Vuitton handbags, the embodiment of French luxury.
International ambassador of French know-how, Louis Vuitton has set itself apart in the domain of luxury leather goods. Even if the brand has been proposing ready-to-wear and collections of leather shoes since the early 2000s, it cannot be dissociated from its ladies' handbags and especially the ones bearing its famous interlocking L and V initials.
From trunks for travellers to luxury handbags.
It was through making trunks, initially in the workshop of Monsieur Maréchal, that Louis Vuitton learned the craft of making leather goods. Seventeen years later, in 1854, he founded his own brand and invented a flat-topped trunk, easier to stack than the traditional round-top models. A short time after revolutionising the luggage sector, the company became a family affair with the arrival of Vuitton's son, Georges. The House owes the design of the coated "LV Monogram" canvas« Monogramme LV », which is a repetition of the brand's logo mixed with floral motifs, to him.
In 1987, Louis Vuitton merged with Moët et Chandon champagnes and Hennessy cognacs to form the LVMH group. Although the fashion house diversified in the early 21st century, leather goods remain its field of predilection and the "LV Monogram" its emblem. Since 2009, year of Marc Jacobs' arrival as creative director, the famous print has strayed beyond the limits of the coated canvas, and can also now be found on women's handbags with versions in different colours and materials. Now under the stewardship of Nicolas Ghesquière, the brand has lost none of its prestige, quite the opposite in fact: a leading light in the world of leather goods, it has made a name for itself with its collections of clothes, shoes and jewellery.
An emblematic motif.
Louis Vuitton developed numerous models of handbags for women, but the most coveted are still the "LV Monogram" canvas models or the grey Trianon chequerboard canvas, invented by Louis Vuitton himself in 1888. Totes, bags with handles or shoulder straps, the famous motifs adopt multiple formats and come in over 30 colourways, from classic brown-beige to much brighter colours. Finally, if the printed canvas and leather adorn the brand's most popular pieces, the house also tries out other styles and materials, like mono colour grain leather, velvet and denim canvas.
Initially specialising in the confection of luxury luggage, the Louis Vuitton label owes its present-day prestige to its ladies' handbags. Each season, it brings out new models, but the appeal of its flagship products never diminishes. A few that are worth mentioning are: