LV‘s Early Days

Early Days (1854-1892)
1854 - Vuitton opens his first store in Paris on Rue Nueve des Capucines, founding Louis Vuitton Malletier a paris. Before his quality trunks, French philosopher, Denis Diderot & Jean Le Rond d'Alembert makes mention of a Malletier and his techniques about 140 years earlier. (1713-1784)

Vuitton began by selling flat-topped trunks that were lightweight and airtight. All trunks before this had rounded tops for water to run off and thus could not be stacked, it was Vuitton's gray Trianon canvas flat trunk that allowed the ability to stack for ease with voyages.

1860 - Vuitton opens a larger factory in Asnières-sur-Seine to accommodate increased demand.

1867 - Vuitton enters the Universal Exhibition at the World's Fair in Paris, winning the bronze medal.

1872 - Vuitton creates a red and beige striped canvas, which he uses to line the interior of his trunks.

1876 - Vuitton creates the wardrobe trunk, which contains a rail and small drawers for storing clothing.

1880 - Vuitton's son Georges is married and (on the same day) is given control of the business. Georges is credited with developing the unique five-number combination lock found on Vuitton trunks.

1883 - Georges' son Gaston-Louis is born.

1885 - The first Louis Vuitton store in London opens.

1888 - The Damier Canvas pattern is created by Louis Vuitton in collaboration with Georges, and bears a logo that reads "marque L. Vuitton déposée," which translates to "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.