The Grand Tome -- Goyard

Goyard, the luxurious Parisian luggage maker founded in 1853, is coming out with a limited edition book celebrating its history, and I am drooling....(sigh)

Each of the 233 numbered and limited edition books will be locked in a trunk almost entirely customizable.


Continuing the heritage of the prestigious collections from the 1920s, this extremely limited edition publication "resonates with and celebrates the golden age of luxury travel, from horse-drawn carriages to the great transatlantic ocean liners."

This magnificent art book uses traditional letterpress techniques for the text, features its own watermarks and is printed upon custom made vellum paper à la forme of Arches Mills.

From the New York Times-- "As the pages turn, with their deep-grain photographs and written passages, some are blank, except for subtle intaglio plate marks. In their natural whiteness, produced with a 500-year-old technique of hemp lightened with the petals of a desert flower, the hand-cut pages resonate with craftsmanship."

The Goyard Book features more than 200 pages featuring photographs and descriptions of all the greatest achievements by Goyard since starting in 1792.

This book took almost a decade to put together.

The book comes in a specially designed Goyard trunk available to order in any of Goyard’s standard colors.

This "work of art" retails for €6,000, and sale is by appointment only.

Now that's not too much to ask for, is it?

photo credits: Goyard

Ahhh...Luxury Gifts

I flipped when I saw these custom-made Goyard trunks specially for made for Assouline. Each trunk houses 100 of Assouline's signature Memoire books on art, fashion, design and architecture.
Price tag: $20,000 (now that's not too much for a decadent holiday gift, right? What recession?)

I wouldn't mind one in white with the red and navy stripes...and all of those books...simply gorgeous...

What? Oh my...a quilted black leather Chanel luxe slipcase adorned with a metal Chanel logo, produced exclusively for Assouline by Chanel. The slipcase includes 3 memoires celebrating her revolutionary style: Chanel Fashion, Chanel Fine Jewelry, and Chanel Perfume. price tag: $550 (a girl can dream, right?)

You can check out all of Assouline's fabulous books & gift items here.

photos from assouline.com

Vuitton or Goyard?

Goyard and Louis Vuitton totes

My friend Janet recently did a fun post about Louis Vuitton vs. Goyard. Both French design houses date to the mid-1800's.

La Maison Goyard began manufacturing in 1853, and was the artisan’s approach to the making of distinctive cases, trunks, luggage and handbags. Adhering to a traditional fabrication that remains unchanged to this day, all pieces are entirely hand-made in France.

Louis Vuitton began manufacturing in 1854, and was renowned for their trunks and luggage. Originally, the leather cases of Louis Vuitton were inlaid with the grey-colored canvas. In 1896, Georges, the son of Louis Vuitton, combined the initials of his father “L&V” with the flower pattern, designed the world renowned monogram canvas pattern. Entering into the 20th century, the company expanded in terms of locations and financial success.

Goyard’s unique hot stamping techniques enabled personalized monograms to be created, if desired, across a wide array of products and accessories.

In 1858, Monsieur Vuitton introduced his flat-bottom trunks with trianon canvas (they were lightweight and airtight)

I started buying LV in the 1980's. I was in my 20's and spent half of my paycheck to buy a bag, one at a time. Totally obsessed with LV for years. Then I discovered Goyard about 6 years ago and fell in love. I like the fact that you don't see many people wearing it. I do however still appreciate the vintage Louis Vuitton luggage/trunks.

My Goyard "Fidji" bag

Fact: Goyard is still a relatively small family-run company, only sold in France, its San Francisco shop, and Barney's New York. In some cases you have to wait as much as 3 months for the production of a specific style.

Fact: The Louis Vuitton Brand and the famous LV monogram are among the world's most valuable brands and are still hand made. It is the most heavily counterfeited brand in fashion history, with only 1% of all Louis Vuitton-branded items in circulation considered authentic.

FYI, I'm eyeballing this tote here. Love the colors of the stripes.

Okay, which French manufacturer do you prefer? Maybe both? Do you even like logo fashion? Do I appear biased?