"Naturally Creative"- Louis Vuitton's Social Responsibility

"Every one of us is responsible for protecting the environment. Following
our conviction that simple actions make big differences, Louis Vuitton
hopes to reconcile human creativity and the environment to favour
sustainable development."

Yves Carcelle,
Louis Vuitton President

The Louis Vuitton company has been committed to protecting the environment and reducing their carbon footprint for years. According to their website, Louis Vuitton "[as a part] The luxury industry, which is synonymous with beauty and excellence,must strive even harder than others to be exemplary in preservation of the
environment." In 1992, LVMH chairman and CEO, Bernard Arnault, created a directory board for the environment.

He renewed this committment in 2001, when he signed the "Environmental Charter," which requires each division of the company to create a management system dedicated to the environment, and to monitoring that division's activities' impact on the environment. The charter's goal is to continue improvements so that the Louis Vuitton company can minimize the impact of operations on the environment, to encourage a collective commitment both inside and outside the company, and to organize the company in ways that guarantee its environmental performance.

In light of their renewed environmental commitment, Louis Vuitton conducted a carbon inventory study for their business, operations, and productions. The results showed that the majority of the CO2 emissions came from shipping their products by air. The company decided to reduce the amount of transporting by air, in favor of transporting their products by ship. Transportaion by sea is creates forty times less pollution than by air. In 2006, Louis Vuitton increased the amount of goods shipped by sea to sixty percent, compared to forty percent in 2004.

Additionally, the Louis Vuitton headquarters now uses eighteen less electricity, and their new and refurbished stores now use thirty percent less energy than the old stores did. They also eliminated their use of plastic wrapping for deliveries, which led to saving twenty tons of plastic. They also eliminated the practice of "intermediate" packaging, that is packaging for transportation from workshops to stores. This effort has saved over 100 tons of packaging.

It is obvious that the Louis Vuitton company and LVMH as a whole is committed to protecting and preserving the environment. We should all follow their lead in an effort to create a cleaner, more beautiful environment for future generations.

Works Cited for Posts

"How it all Began...":
~Louisvuitton.com
~http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/44182/louis_vuitton_the_history_behind_the.html?cat=46

"Who is the Louis Vuitton Customer?":
~http://www.quantcast.com/louisvuitton.com

"'Naturally Creative'-Louis Vuitton's Social Responsibility":
~http://www.louisvuitton.com/media/images/articles/Eenvir1/en_US/environnementGB.pdf

"Live, Love, Marc!"
~style.com
~answers.com/topic/marc-jacobs

"What's New From Louis Vuitton- Fall 2010"
~style.com

"Wild Sophistication- Louis Vuitton Spring & Summer Ad Campaign 2010"
~louisvuitton.com
~http://www.ilvoelv.com/2009/12/louis-vuitton-springsummer-2010-ad.html

Who is the Louis Vuitton Customer?

When you think of who buys Louis Vuitton products, who do you picture? The image that the Louis Vuitton band has built throughout its history definitely brings a certain type of customer to mind.

Today, according to quantcast.com, the Louis Vuitton customer is a younger female, age 18-34, with a college degree. She is more affluent, typically having an annual income of $100,000 or more. She also has few-if any- children, and is more likely to be Asian than any other nationality.

It is apparent that the Vuitton brand has been targeting a younger market in recent years, such as in 2003 when the company partnered with Takashi Murakami to create the multicolor monogram canvas collection (pictured below):




Also, with Marc Jacobs in charge of design for the brand, many in younger generations, who relate to his aesthetic, have come to a new-found appreciation for the Louis Vuitton brand.


Market analysts may have defined the typical Louis Vuitton customer, but we can all enjoy the luxury this brand offers!

How it all began...

We all know about the Louis Vuitton brand, a leader in luxury goods, yet many of us do not know the history of how this fashion power house came to be. We're all familiar with the brand, but few know much, if anything, about how it came to be a fashion powerhouse.

Louis Vuitton was born in Anchay, Jura, France, in 1821. At the age of sixteen, in 1837, Louis moved to Paris and began his apprenticeship with luggage and trunk maker, Monsieur Marechal. It was during this apprenticeship that Vuitton, working as a luggage-packer for wealthy Parisians, gained a working knowledge of not only luggage, but also what people needed and wanted in their luggage- a knowledge that would work to his advantage in his own career as a luggage maker.

In 1854, Vuitton opened his first store in Paris, thus creating Louis Vuitton Malletier. The trunks that Vuitton designed were much different from others being made during that time. Unlike the rounded tops of other trunks, Vuitton designed flat top trunks that could be stored more easily in the luggage compartments of trains. His first designs were covered in "trianon" canvas, such as the one pictured below:



Vuitton's luggage became popular among the royal family in France, in particular Empress Eugine, wife of Napoleon III. The Louis Vuitton company became so successful by 1860, that he opened a larger factory to keep up with the demand for his products.

When his competitors began imitating his designs in the late 1800's, he and his son, Georges, created the Damier canvas which bore the trademark "marque L. Vuitton déposée." Below is a picture of one of the original Damier canvas trunks, c. 1888:



Louis died in 1892, Georges turned the company into an international corporation. That same year, the Louis Vuitton company began producing their now world-famous handbags. It was in 1896 that Georges created perhaps the most recognizable aspect of Louis Vuitton products, the signature monogram canvas. He created this design to further prevent counterfeiters from reproducing his designs. Below is a picture of an c.1896 Vuitton Monogram Canvas trunk:




The Vuitton company continued its success during the Victorian period. The Champs- Elysees store, the largest travel and luggage store in the world at that time, was opened in 1901. The Vuitton brand continued its success throughout the years during and after WWI. During his career, Georges Vuitton designed over 700 products for the company, including the ever- popular "keepall" and "Noe" bags.

After Georges death in 1936, his son Gaston-Louis Vuitton took over control of the company, shaping it into the brand that we recognize today. It was in 1959, that the modern monogram canvas fabric was created. They created a new method for coating the fabric that allowed it be more supple, while still maintaining its durability.

During the 1970's, the company opened its first stores in the Asian markets, including Tokyo and Osaka. In 1984, the company opened its first store in Seoul, Korea, and in 1992 the Beijing, China store was opened.

In 1987, Louis Vuitton merged with Moet- Hennessey to form Louis Vuitton- Moet-Hennessey, or LVMH. Ten years later, Marc Jacobs was hired as the brand's artistic director. Today, with Marc Jacobs still at the head of the company, the Vuitton brand continues to be the leader in luxury goods by constantly pushing the envelope, while still maintaining its classic aesthetic.