IN PRINT: The Family Firm – Patrick-Louis Vuitton - Men's Folio
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IN PRINT: The Family Firm – Patrick-Louis Vuitton

  • By Men's Folio

On the occasion of the opening of the Maison Louis Vuitton Venezia, amidst the mayhem of the assembled international press and visitors thronging the store, a pool of calm radiates from Patrick-Louis Vuitton. Vuitton cuts a regal, avuncular figure, ensconced like a pasha on the leather sofa of the mezzanine of the newly opened store, unaffected by the melee swirling around him.

For him, his job is simple, and as far away from the fashion hysteria as can be. He can afford to be unaffected, as he continues to do what four generations of Vuittons have done before him: that is to make practical items adapted to the needs of modern travel. For his great-great grandfather is none other than Louis Vuitton, the founder of the company. Patrick-Louis Vuitton had joined the family firm in 1973 as an artisan at the Louis Vuitton factory, working in various divisions of the manufacturing of hard and soft-sided luggage.

He became the chief of manufacturing in 1975, when there were just 115 people on the payroll, and since 1986, he has been responsible for the improvement of the manufacturing technique of hard-sided luggage and special orders. He oversaw improvements in raw materials that enabled Louis Vuitton to go from hard-sided suitcases and trunks to soft, supple bags. Today, Patrick-Louis Vuitton continues to head Louis Vuitton special orders division, gracefully mastering his extraordinary metier in a matter-of-fact manner. For him, the repair and making of new pieces of Louis Vuitton is a quotidian thing. Remarkably workmanlike, he recalls without any sign of distaste his first job which was to boil glue, then made of animal bones and dead fish. It is a source of satisfaction to him that he can still make any piece of luggage made by Vuitton from the archive and should the occasion arise, he can still wield a hammer.

MEN’S FOLIO: How has your work changed over the years? Are there any differences between when you first picked up the metier as an apprentice and now, when technology has changed so much?

PATRICK VUITTON: I can give you a technical answer because I am a technician. What has radically changed for example are the procedures for treating and tanning leather. The chemical industry has brought about very huge changes and innovations. I would also say that glues have considerably changed for both leather treatment and production and also for outsoles and things like that. Yes, glues. However, some things remain the same because wood remains wood as it has always been, and metal is always metal.

What motivates you to continue to work?

Clients and customers. They have ideas, I put them into practice. There’s nothing else better than  being able to conceive design and to deliver it to a client, as a special project.

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