Louis Vuitton Malletier — commonly referred to as Louis Vuitton , or shortened to LV — is a French fashion house founded in 1854.

The label is well known for its LV monogram, which is featured on most products, ranging from luxury trunks and leather goods to ready-to-wear, shoes, watches, jewellery, accessories, sunglasses, and books.

The Louis Vuitton label was founded by Monsieur Louis Vuitton in 1854 on Rue Neuve des Capucines in Paris. In 1858, Monsieur Vuitton introduced his flat-bottom trunks with trianon canvas, making them lightweight and airtight. Before the introduction of Vuitton’s trunks, rounded-top trunks were used, generally to promote water run off, and thus could not be stacked. It was Vuitton’s gray Trianon canvas flat trunk that allowed the ability to stack with ease for voyages.

In 1867, the company participated in the universal exhibition in Paris. To protect against the duplication of his look, he changed the Trianon design to a beige and brown stripes design in 1876. By 1885, the company opened its first store in London, England on Oxford Street. Soon thereafter, due to the continuing imitation of his look, in 1888, the Damier Canvas pattern was created by Louis Vuitton, bearing a logo that reads “marque L. Vuitton déposée,” which translates to “mark L. Vuitton deposited” or, roughly, “L. Vuitton trademark”.

In 1892, Louis Vuitton died, and the company’s management passed to his son.  After the death of his father, Georges Vuitton began a campaign to build the company into a worldwide corporation, exhibiting the company’s products at the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893.

By 1913, the Louis Vuitton Building opened on the Champs-Elysees. It was the largest travel-goods store in the world at the time. Stores also opened in New York,  Bombay,  Washington,  London,  Alexandria, and Buenos Aires as World War I began.

1987 saw the creation of LVMH. Moët et Chandon and Hennessy, leading manufacturers of champagne and cognac, merged respectively with Louis Vuitton to form the luxury goods conglomerate.

In 2002, the Tambour watch collection was introduced. During this year, the LV building in Tokyo’s Ginza district was opened.

In 2004, Louis Vuitton celebrated its 150^th anniversary. The brand also inaugurated stores in New York City(on Fifth Avenue), São Paulo , Mexico City , Cancun and Johannesburg. It also opened its first global store in Shanghai. By 2005, Louis Vuitton reopened its Champs-Élysées store in Paris designed by the American Architect Eric Carlson (reputed to be the largest and most successful LV store in the world), and released the Speedy watch collection.

In 2010, Louis Vuitton opened what it described as their most luxurious store in London.

Louis Vuitton Collection

Louis Vuitton Movements