Vuitton, the evolution of motifs!
This post is about Vuitton history; if you are looking for information on trunk value, please read the blog postg ( How much for my Vuitton ? )
- 1858 - 1873 : light gray canvas called gray Trianon (gray was considered a very innovative color because all trunks in that time were rather dark!)
- 1872 : beige and red striped canvas
- 1876 : dark beige and light beige striped canvas
- 1888 : : brown and beige checked canvas called “damier” canvas (moleskin technique) 
- 1896 : arrival of the famous monogram. 4-petal flowers in a beige circle; diamond spikes with a star; stars with a central dot + LV initials on a brown background
Summary video
Examples of Vuitton-made trunks
See examples of Louis Vuitton on sales: LV trunks : LV trunks on the website www.la-malle-en-coin.comFor a valuation, please read the post on the blog : " How much for my Vuitton in the shop-window "
There are hundreds of different trunks ...
We present below, the standard range, then the special trunks of Louis Vuitton.
Important: all trunks presented in photos below are trunks that we have restored in OUR workshops.
We only publish our work.
The Steamer Trunk
The steamer trunk is available in gray, striped brown or red, yellow or dark checkered
Monogram woven, stencilled or printed, in natural leather and in the colors Vuittonite
The steamer trunk "classic" exists from 70 to 110 cm
Nowadays, in new, Vuitton still offers them from 90 cm to 110 cm.
It exists in a man version (height about 50 cm) and in a woman version (about 65 cm)
Their finishes vary between steel angles, lozin or leather;
Article sur l'histoire des malles courrier vuitton
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Leather steamer trunk
The steamer trunk comes in a range of striped canvas, damier canvas, monogram canvas and Vuittonite.
Red Stripped LV steamer trunk
Louis Vuitton Cabin Trunk
The trunk cabin is a trunk 33cm high,
historically geared to be slipped under the beds of the liner cabins,
Originally, they are lower than steamer trunks.
They also exist in all lengths and types of canvas.
Their finish varies from steel angles, lozins or leather;
 Louis Vuitton Damier cabin trunk |
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Louis Vuitton Damier cabin trunkLouis Vuitton's Wardrobe Trunk
The trunks are very different
They exist in 55 cm of depth and in 65 cm.
In height, they are from 110 cm to 145 cm, for larger ones.
They have facilities that differ according to the models and the needs of the client.
The trunk trunk is transported horizontally for this model and is used vertically. Trunk trunk 65 cm monogram |
 Wardrobe 145 cm Louis Vuitton printed monogram 1980 |
 Wardrobe Louis Vuitton 55cm Monogram Stencil |
 Louis Vuitton leather wardrobe trunk |
Hat trunk
It exists for women or men and can store 1 to 12 hats, for the largest.
They are either of cubic form of small dimension (man),
65X65X65 format for women,
either of steamer format, with a hat chassis.
example of Vuitton hat trunk and video on a brief history of hat trunks
Article on Louis Vuitton's Hat Trunks.
 Checker hat trunk for man 35 cm |
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Vuittonitte orange women's hat trunk
Shoe trunk
Ce type de malle permet de ranger plusieurs paires de chaussures, espacées et protégées des chocs par des séparateurs en
suédine comme l'intérieur des chassis.
La Lily Pons, du nom de la cantatrice qui a commandé la première malle de ce modèle, est une malle 30 paires.
LV Lily Pons Trunk, stencil monogram canvas, 30 pairs of shoesCommod trunk
Equipped with several adapted drawers, the commode trunk enables an easy access to one’s clothes. It exists in multiple models which differ in height.
Trunk for shirts
Library trunk
The library trunk is small because of the weight of the books.
It is made as standard in monogram and on order in natural leather.
The leather trunk, pictured below, has been restored for the luggage museum
 Monogram library trunk |
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Open monogrammed library trunk  Leather library trunk |
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Trunk bookcase leather special orderAutomotive trunk
They are numerous and of different forms. They are available in varnished mahogany wood, in black, red or monogrammed canvas.
Concave trunks for vehicles from the 1910s to more contemporary suitcases, including those with a square shape, for the yellow cruise.
Car trunk with integrated suitcases, Louis Vuitton black coated canvas
Automotive trunk for tools
Tooled monogram trunk
Hemingway Trunk
Originally made for the writer Ernest Hemingway, the model has adopted its name
 Hemingway secretary trunk Louis Vuitton canvas stencil 60 cm |
 Hemingway secretary trunk Louis Vuitton canvas stencil 60 cm |
Article on Hemingway trunks
Picnic trunk
This picnic trunk is a typical example of a special order made at the request of a customer.
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Stokowski Trunk
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In 1929, Leopold Stokowski asked Georges Vuitton to build a trunk for his travels, like Conan Doyle.
a trunk exclusively imagined for him and to respond to his work habits while traveling.
See articles on the Stokowski trunk
Albert Kahn Trunk
The trunks created especially for Albert Kahn, with the motif of 3 white birds.
Albert Kahn, born Abraham Kahn in Marmoutier in Alsace on March 3, 1860 and died in Boulogne-Billancourt on November 14, 1940, is a French banker and philanthropist. He has collected an important iconographic collection entitled Archives of the Planet, a collection of autochromes (color photographs on glass plates) the largest in the world, and black and white films, fonds preserved at the departmental Albert-Kahn museum.
Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Kahn_
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Britannica encyclopedia trunk
Longitudinal trunk, destined to rank the complete encyclopedia.
Particularly, this trunk has 2 locks, but has no hinge.
Flower trunk
Created in the 1910s, for their best customers, the Fleur Malle is a romantic model that finds its roots in the long tradition of Louis Vuitton.
It was offered to pregnant clients.
Lous Vuitton Flower Trunk
Desk Trunk
Louis Vuitton desk trunk
One of the rarest pieces of Louis Vuitton.
Here, the tray is not original. Absent, it has been restored.
Trunk secretary
Louis Vuitton Alligator Suitcase
Special order in Alligator, having belonged to a diplomat of the embassy of Iran.
Leather steamer trunk of Grand Duke Cyrill of Russia
This trunk described in the book: "100 trunks of legend" was ordered, in 2 copies, by the great Duke Cyril Vladimirovich of Russia
It is now presented at the luggage museum
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Book page 100 trunks of legend |
Zinc trunk Louis Vuitton
 Zinc trunk Louis Vuitton |
 Zinc trunk Louis Vuitton |
Book page "100 trunks of legend"
Louis Vuitton copper trunk
This trunk, very particular, was restored in our workshops and sold at the exhibition LEGENDARY TRUNK and is exhibited around the world
 Exploration copper trunk Louis Vuitton |
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Trunk for fishing rods (special order)
1914 Pharmacy Trunk
Louis Vuitton, a participant in the war effort, produces these little trunks without a cloth.
 Pharmacy trunk Louis Vuitton 1914 |
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Pharmacy trunk Louis Vuitton 1914Louis Vuitton bed trunk
Louis Vuitton trunk in trianon gray canvas
We have restored 5 trunks in 20 years.
This is the oldest existing in the world, it is presented at the luggage museum
The others are exposed to the exhibition LEGENDARY TRUNK
You have a model of that brand? We are willing to buy, contact us!
Vuitton stores
1854: 4 rue Neuve des Capucines
1859: workshops in Asnières
1871: installation at 1 rue Scribe
1885: London, Oxford Street 289
1889: Moving London shop to Strad Street 454
1900: Moving London shop to 149 New Bond Street
1909: Lille
1914: Champs-Elysées
1924: Cannes
1926: Vichy
1954: Avenue Marceau 78 bis
1978: Japan
Canvasses were first coated with bituminous substances and stretched over the trunk box, before being replaced by moleskin. The evolution of motifs and the canvas changes were systematically motivated, even in the beginnings, by protection concerns.
From the beginning, Vuitton suffered counterfeits.
Book: Traveling from the most remote times to the present day, by Gaston Vuitton, 1894
Dentu edition, Paris
Vuitton : Chronologie en rouge :
Chronologie des malles
1821 Naissance de LVuiton à Anchay, son père est François Xavier Vuitton Meunier
1828 Guerlain première Boutique 1828 Etard créé le carton à chapeau en forme de champignon
1831 Naissance du chemin de fer
1837 Embauche de L Vuitton chez Maréchal coffretier emballeur
1838 Création d’une boutique de Sellier harnacheur Thierry Hermès.
1839 premier commis chez Maréchal 1845 Lavolaille invente la marmotte
1847 Louis François Cartier créé sa boutique
1848 rencontre de LV et François Goyard (20ans) qui travaille chez Morel installé 347 rue st honoré.
1849 1850 LV apprend à lire ! 1850 Le bazar du voyage (est la + célèbre maison de malles de l’époque )
1852 Boucicaut « invente » l’entrée libre dans un magasin sans obligation d’achat …
1852 créations de Goyard
1854 L’almanach Didot recense 100 sociétés de layettiers
1856 Creation de LV 1856 Première malle plate en gris trianon
1858 Première malle à casiers 1867 première récompense à l’exposition universelle
1868 première malle lit
Ajout d'une video sur you tube d'une malle lit Louis Vuitton
Vous verrez le matin , il faut prendre du temps :-)
1868 malle en zinc étanche
1869 début des commandes spéciales de malles chez lv
1873 Georges Vuitton, 16 ans, rejoint l’atelier comme apprenti
1875 malle armoire (brevet à Vienne en 1852) son vrai succès démarre en 1890
1875 la concurrence (anglaise) met au point la sole leather (malle cuir et carton) et la « basket » malle
en osier ultra légère et le mix des deux : osier recouvert de cuir
1876 La malle rayée est à son tour copiée (Malle anonyme copie LV)
1876 création du nouveau motif rayure havane
1878 rencontre avec Savordan de Brazza, explorateur, qui commande une nouvelle malle lit 1879
G Vuitton se marie
1879 première malle de poupée à rayures marron, commande de Guerlain pour la St sylvestre .
1880 G Vuitton rachète à LV la société
1882 premières publicités dans les journaux 1883 Gaston louis Vuitton
1885 G Vuitton ouvre une boutique à Londres
1886 François Goyard cède son fonds de commerce à Edmond Goyard, son fils .
1886 premières serrures à ressort à gorges mobiles
1888 Premières malles à damier avec inscrit « Marques L.Vuitton déposée »
1889 Exposition universelle Présentation de malle à tiroirs, malle à fourrures avec intérieur
en camphrier (antimite) et étanche, malles robes, malles – chapeaux (cage à ruban fixe) Vuitton médaille d’or pour ses porte-habits
1889 naissance des jumeaux de Georges Pierre Eugène et Jean Armand (premier Vuitton à ne pas avoir Louis dans leurs prénoms )
1890 invention de la serrure numérotée supprimant les trousseaux de clés
1890 Innovation trunk compagnie (usa) relance la malle armoire
1890 le 9 octobre Clément Ader réalise le premier vol en Avion
1892 premier catalogue Vuitton (35 pages) 1892 décès de Louis Vuitton
1894 le livre de G Vuitton est achevé « le voyage depuis les temps reculés jusqu'à nos jours »
1896 création de La toile LV
1898 Malle Auto
1898 L’américain Wanamaket devient le représentant Vuitton aux USA
1901 Streamer Bag 1902 La Pégamoid ou Moleskine fait son apparition, elle est directement collée au fût
1904 Revendeur vente aux US chez Jordan Marsh and co 1904 Revendeur vente aux US
Marshall field and co et Roosbrother
1905 Malle secrétaire à tiroirs secrets de Brazza .
1906 Revendeur en Argentine James Smart 1907 Armand Dashbeck Bruxelles
1908 Malle aéro 1908 Magasin de Nice 1909 Magasin de Lille
1909 Chiffre d’affaires de Vuitton : 2 millions de F (contre 200.000 f en 1880)
1910 Revendeur P.M Lortet à Bankok 1911 Revendeur Les grands magasins chalons à Alexandrie
1911 Magasin à Trouville
1912 Revendeur CA benoît à Bombay.
1912 Vente aux US Beckers’s Leather Goods co et Becker et Wickser co .
1913 Adresse aux Champs Elysées
1924 Vuitton présente des objets et du mobilier à vocation sédentaire
1931 croisière jaune avec Malles Vuitton.
1935 ouverture d’un département jouet !
1936 Mort de Georges Vuitton, Gaston prend la suite, son Fils Henry 25 ans s’occupe du commercial.
1942 Henry Vuitton est décoré de la Francisque, ordre du maréchal Pétain.
1954 déménagement 78 av. Marceau 1954 Claude Vuitton, directeur d’usine
1959 Vuitton utilise le PVC, premier streamer bag en PVC 1959 Décès de J Vuitton, frère de Claude
1970 Gaston Louis Vuitton décède 1970 Chiffre d’affaires : 15 Millions €
1970 Henri Racamier prend les reines de l’entreprise (gendre de Vuitton)
1977 Rachat de Givenchy, Veuve Cliquot
1983 Création de la LV Cup de voile
1984 La malle aux souvenirs Henry Vuitton / Pierre Daliabart 1987 Fusion avec Moet et Chandon et création de LVMH
1989 Bernard Arnault prend le contrôle du groupe Sources : Louis Vuitton "Une saga francaise"
de Stephanie Bonvicini chez Fayard
Before 1900, the serial number should be between 1 and 99’999.
Vuitton: visit the family firm on the official website http://www.louisvuitton.com/
Louis Vuitton story in english
When Vuitton opened his first store in Paris in 1854, he began by selling flat-topped trunks that were lightweight
and airtight, and were bought by France's Empress Eugénie in its first year of sale. His first piece was the grey
Trianon canvas flat trunk. Vuitton was the first trunk-maker to create a flat-topped trunk or an airtight trunk.
(All trunks before this had rounded tops for water to run off, and thus could not be stacked.) Surprisingly,
the Monogram Canvas design was not created until after Louis Vuitton's death; it was created by his son, Georges.
1854 - Vuitton opened his first store in Paris on Rue Nueve des Capucines, founding
Louis Vuitton Malletier ("Louis Vuitton Trunk-Maker").
1860 - Vuitton opened a larger factory in Asnières-sur-Seine to accommodate increased demand.
1867 - Vuitton entered the Universal Exhibition at the World's Fair in Paris, winning the bronze medal.
1872 - Creation of the red and beige striped canvas
1876 - Creation of the wardrobe trunk, which contained a rail and small drawers for storing clothing.
1880 - Georges gets married and (on the same day) is given control of the business. 1
883 - Georges' son Gaston-Louis is born.
1885 - The first Louis Vuitton store in London opens. 1
888 - The Damier Canvas pattern is created by Louis Vuitton in collaboration with Georges,
and bears a logo that reads "marquee L. Vuitton déposée" (which literally means "mark
L. Vuitton deposited" or roughly "L. Vuitton trademark").
1889 - Vuitton wins the gold medal at the World's Fair in Paris.
1892 - Vuitton dies;the Vuitton company begins selling handbags. Age d'or de la Marque
Louis Vuitton (1893-1936) After Vuitton's death, Georges made Louis Vuitton a worldwide corporation.
1893 - Georges displays Vuitton products at the World's Fair in Chicago.
1894 - Georges publishes his book "Le Voyage".
1896 - Georges designs the 'Monogram Canvas' It came to be called 'Monogram Canvas;' its graphic
symbols were based on the trend for Japanese/Oriental designs in the late Victorian Period. This can
be considered the first "designer logo", since Georges was driven to create this pattern to prevent
further copying of Vuitton patterns (counterfeiting had already begun by this point). Georges then
sailed to the United States, in which he toured various cities such as New York, Philadelphia,
and Chicago. He sold Vuitton products during the visit.
1899 - Georges exhibited Vuitton products at the maiden Paris Auto Show. 1
900 - Georges Vuitton was given the honor to set up the "Travel Items and Leather Goods" section
of the 1900 Paris World Fair.
1901 - the Louis Vuitton Company introduced the 'Steamer Bag', a small handbag to be kept inside
Vuitton luggage trunks.
1904 - Georges chaired the jury for the St. Louis World Fair. In the same year, the Louis Vuitton
company introduced a new line of trunks that have special compartments for items s
uch as perfumes, clothing, and other goods.
1906 - Georges' son Gaston-Louis married Renee Versille and Louis Vuitton introduces trunks for automobiles.
1914 - The Louis Vuitton Building opens in Champs-Elysees. The building was the largest
travel-goods store in the world at that time. Store locations open in New York, Bombay,
Washington, London, Alexandria and Buenos Aires as World War I begins.
1924 - Only eight years after the end of World War I, the 'Keepall' is invented.
This bag foreran the duffel bag in a travel bag for light travel to keep necessities in.
1929 - The seventy-fifth anniversary of Louis Vuitton, a toiletry case is introduced specifically
for opera singer Marthe Chenal. It could fit bottles, brushes, mirrors, powder boxes and more toiletries.
1931 - Louis Vuitton introduced exotic bags such as a handbag of crocodile skin,
as well as elephant hide handbags for the Colonial Exhibition.
1932 - Louis Vuitton introduced the Nóe bag. This bag was made for champagne
vinter to transport bottles.
1933 - The Louis Vuitton Speedy bag was introduced.
1936 - The golden age of Louis Vuitton ends as Georges Vuitton passes away.
Estimates attribute Georges Vuitton with over 700 new Vuitton designs.
Gaston-Louis Vuitton assumes control of the company. The secretary trunk
is introduced for Leopold Stokowski, a conductor. Corporate Age of Louis Vuitton (1937 - Present Day)