BACKGROUND: From malletier workshop to luxury goods emporium
|
|
|
Louis Vuitton (1821-1892), the son of a French miller from Jura, a département in the east of the country, established his first shop "Louis Vuitton: Malletier à Paris" on the Rue Neuve des Capucines in the French capital in 1854.
The word "malletier" means trunk-maker, and Vuitton's first cases were travelling trunks, which had the advantage of being somewhat lighter than the cumbersome items used thus far. They were also flat, and so could easily be stacked.
Success was guaranteed.
Today there are Louis Vuitton stores in 58 countries, well over 300 of them in all.
Products are only sold in LV outlets or online, to discourage counterfeiters, and there are no bargain discount sales.
In addition to leather cases and bags, the distinctive Louis Vuitton monogram trademark can be found on ready-to-wear clothing, shoes, watches, jewellery, textiles, pens, accessories, watches, and sunglasses.
The final piece of the jigsaw, cementing LV's luxury goods reputation, came in 1987 when Louis Vuitton merged with Moët et Chandon and Hennessy to form one of the world's largest luxury goods conglomerates, LVMH.
This group of companies - including among its brands countless luxury household names such as Dom Perignon champagne, Christian Dior and Guerlain perfumes, TAG Heuer watches, the DKNY, Givenchy, and Kenzo fashion labels, and the Le Bon Marché department store in Paris - generated profit from operations in 2007 of EUR 3,555 million, on revenue of EUR 16,481 million.
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 12.4.2008
More on this subject:
 Bags of style: Louis Vuitton arrives in Helsinki
Links:
Louis Vuitton (Wikipedia)
LVMH Group
PAULIINA PULKKINEN / Helsingin Sanomat
pauliina.pulkkinen@hs.fi
|
|
