Founding to World War II The Louis Vuitton label was founded by Vuitton in 1854 on Rue Neuve des Capucines in
Paris. Louis Vuitton had observed that the
H. J. Cave Osilite trunk could be easily stacked. In 1858, Vuitton introduced his flat-topped trunks with Trianon canvas, making them lightweight and airtight. To protect against the duplication of his look, Vuitton changed the Trianon design to a beige-and-brown stripes design in 1876. and made the worldwide patents on it. The patents later proved to be successful in stopping counterfeiting. In this same year, Georges travelled to the United States, where he toured cities such as New York,
Philadelphia, and Chicago, selling Vuitton products. In 1901, the Louis Vuitton Company introduced the
Steamer Bag, a smaller piece of luggage designed to be kept inside Vuitton luggage trunks. 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. Afterwards, in 1930, the Keepall bag was introduced. During 1932, LV introduced the
Noé bag. This bag was originally made for champagne vintners to transport bottles. Soon thereafter, the Louis Vuitton
Speedy bag was introduced (both are still manufactured today). tells how members of the Vuitton family actively aided the Vichy government led by Marshal
Philippe Pétain and increased their wealth from their business affairs with the Germans. The family set up a factory dedicated to producing artefacts glorifying Pétain, including more than 2,500 busts. Caroline Babulle, a spokeswoman for the publisher, Fayard, said: "They have not contested anything in the book, but they are trying to bury it by pretending it doesn't exist." Responding to the book's release in 2004, a spokesman for LVMH said: "This is ancient history. The book covers a period when it was family-run and long before it became part of LVMH. We are diverse, tolerant and all the things a modern company should be." Her husband
Henry Racamier joined her and took over the reins of Louis Vuitton in 1977. By 1977 Louis Vuitton reached an annual revenue up to 70 million
Francs (US$14.27 million). A year later, the label opened its first stores in Japan: in Tokyo and
Osaka. In 1983, the company joined with
America's Cup to form the
Louis Vuitton Cup, a preliminary competition (known as an eliminatory regatta) for the yacht race. Louis Vuitton later expanded its presence in Asia with the opening of a store in
Taipei, Taiwan in 1983 and
Seoul, South Korea in 1984. In the following year, 1985, the Epi leather line was introduced. In March of the following year, he designed and introduced the company's first "
prêt-à-porter" line of clothing for men and women. Also in this year products introduced included the Monogram Vernis line, the LV scrapbooks, and the
Louis Vuitton City Guide. In 2010, Louis Vuitton opened what is described as their most luxurious store in London. In early 2011, Louis Vuitton hired
Kim Jones as its "Men Ready-to-Wear Studio and Style Director". He became the lead designer of menswear while working under the company-wide artistic directorship of Marc Jacobs. On 17 September 2011, the company opened its Louis Vuitton Island
Maison at Marina Bay Sands,
Singapore.
2012 to present , the company hired Darren Spaziani to lead its accessory collection. On 4 November 2013, the company confirmed that
Nicolas Ghesquière had been hired to replace Marc Jacobs as artistic director of women's collections. Ghesquière's first line for the company was shown in Paris in March 2014. On 7 April 2014, Edouard Schneider became the head of press and public relations at Louis Vuitton under Frédéric Winckler, who is Vuitton's communications and events director. On 26 March 2018,
Virgil Abloh was named artistic director of men's wear, replacing Kim Jones who had departed for Dior—he was the label's first African-American artistic director and one of few black designers of a major European fashion house. His debut show was held at the 2018 Paris Men's Fashion Week and staged in the historical
Palais-Royal gardens' courtyard. On 28 November 2021, Abloh died of cardiac
angiosarcoma, which he had been battling privately for two years prior. LV was in the first place in the BrandZ's top 10 most valuable luxury brands in 2019, with a worth of $47.2 billion. On 15 January 2020, the company acquired the
Sewelô diamond, which is the third-largest rough diamond ever found in history, from
Lucara Diamond who mined it from their mine in Botswana. In March 2022, LVMH announced closure of its 120+ stores in Russia, "given the current circumstances in the region," due to the
Russo-Ukrainian War. An LVMH spokesperson stated the company would continue to pay salary and benefits to its 3,500 employees in Russia. In March 2025, announced the launch of a
cosmetic and beauty line, called La Beauté Louis Vuitton, with
British makeup artist Pat McGrath as its creative director. The collection has been in development for four years and is expected to include 55
lipsticks, eight
eye shadow palettes and 10
lip balms. McGrath's collaboration with Louis Vuitton originated from her longstanding relationship with
Nicolas Ghesquière, the house's
artistic director of women’s collections since 2014, and resulted in a product line developed over five years through a confidential process that included visits to the brand's historic home and
atelier in
Asnières-sur-Seine. The line officially launched on August 29, 2025 on Louis Vuitton's website and select stores worldwide, with 55 lipstick shades, 10 lip balms and eight eyeshadow palettes in the debut line. The number of lipstick shades was chosen as a reference to the
Roman numeral LV, which equals 55, and is known as the brand's monogram. ==Brand and intellectual property==