Louis Vuitton / Marc Jacobs French Edition

Born in 1821 in Anchay, a small hamlet in the Jura region, Louis Vuitton left his village at the age of 13 and set off for Paris without a penny to his name.

He served an apprenticeship with Romain Maréchal, a renowned trunk maker and packer in the capital. In 1854, Louis founded his own company, setting himself up as a packer and opening his first shop in the Opéra district. His trunks and luggage quickly became popular with high society throughout Europe. Visionary creators, Louis and his descendants turned the art of travel into a true art of living, transforming the small family business into a leading name in luxury. In 1997, Marc Jacobs became the artistic director of Louis Vuitton and launched the first ready-to-wear collections. He revamped the accessories range by calling on artists Stephen Sprouse, Takashi Murakami and Richard Prince, and this combination of art and fashion shook up the entire industry. Without denying the brand's roots and with numerous references to its heritage, Marc Jacobs breathed new life into it. In just a few seasons, he reinterpreted the brand's codes, bringing a contemporary dimension and establishing Louis Vuitton firmly in the fashion world. Richly documented and illustrated, this book shows how, more than a century apart, these two personalities understood their era and capitalised on the opportunities it offered: Louis Vuitton developed his business in a rapidly expanding neighbourhood, while the industrial revolution opened up new technical possibilities and created a new wealthy clientele. Today, as the fashion system has become global, Marc Jacobs reappropriates the cultural codes of fashion while subverting them, perfectly embodying the archetypal contemporary designer.