Business Case Study - Louis Vuitton
Business Case Study: Louis Vuitton - An Ultimate Icon Of Luxury
Louis Vuitton is not just an icon, but it also represents a man who initiated the early stage of his career as a homeless boy. Ironic, isn’t it?
At 13, he left his house for a number of reasons and travelled to Paris, where he started working at the age of 16 with a man named Romain, who was a box maker and a packer. This is the place from which he learned the fundamentals of crafting the finest quality bags for 16 years.
In 1853, he was appointed by Eugenie De Montijo, who was the wife of Napoleon III, as a trunk maker.
This was the turning point in his career; he actually went from being an ordinary assistant to a well-renowned craftsman and designer in France.
Louis started his own workshop, which specialises in designing bags for rich people in France. Soon, people from all over the world got attracted towards it even the viceroy of Egypt came to buy his bags.
What is so special about Louis Vuitton bags?
Why do people specifically want bags from him and not others?
Because he found three big gaps during those days,
Firstly, the bags at that time were made from thick pig skin, and these bags were very durable but very heavy, which means that even without packing them, they themselves had a lot of weight. Also, the pig skin used to crack after a certain point.
Secondly, the bags were dome-shaped tops, and the ideology behind the structure was that if mud or rain fell on it, it would just simply roll off. This was specifically crafted, keeping in mind the people who used to travel by horse carriages but the drawback came in later. When steam engines started getting popular, people didn’t need to worry about rain and mud. Rather, it created a problem: the bags couldn’t get stacked due to their dome shape.
Thirdly, these bags weren’t waterproof at all.
That is when he realised that the best kind of a bag would be one that is light, watertight and made in such a shape that it works according to trains. This was when he came up with his iconic product, “steamer trunk”
Master Invention
The steamer trunk was flat at the top and was made with canvas material that had glue-based treatment. They were made with popular wood and metal buckles, which made them look elegant. It was undoubtedly a revolutionary invention back then because it apparently solved all the purposes at once due to which all the rich people used to buy these bags. This is how he established himself as a luxury bag designer.
Damage due to the Franco-Prussian War
The war between France and Prussia that broke out around 1871 brought a lot of damage to Louis’s work. His workshop place and home were both bombarded and shattered.
Despite getting agitated, he found this as a huge opportunity to broaden his business. Now, he opened his shop in a great location, which was a hub or a centre called Opera. It was near to the railway station and a very famous hotel in Europe called Le Grand Hotel. He apparently opened his shop in such a place which was surrounded by the richest residents of Europe, but he faced another problem here too.
Common issues faced by high-end brand
Whenever they launch a new elegant product, there is a cheap dupe for it in the market. So the question is, despite all these cheap copy products, how do these high-end products maintain their market, or how did Louis maintain his brand? This is where he got into his differentiation phase.