trunkmaker A malletier is, in French, literally a trunk-maker, or manufacturer of luggage and suitcases Trunkmaking French philosopher Denis Diderot and Jean d'Alembert made mention of a ''Malletier'' and his techniques in their ''Encyclopédie, ou Dictionn ...

Louis Vuitton Louis Vuitton Malletier SAS, commonly known as Louis Vuitton (, ), is a French Luxury goods, luxury fashion house and company founded in 1854 by Louis Vuitton (designer), Louis Vuitton. The label's LV monogram appears on most of its products, ...

Goyard Goyard is a French trunk maker founded in 1853 in Paris. The company originated as Maison Morel, which was later acquired by François Goyard (1828-1890), establishing the Goyard family in the trade of trunk making and luxury packing. His son E ...

Moynat Moynat is a Parisian trunkmaker, founded in Paris in 1849 by Octavie and François Coulembier. They collaborated with specialist Pauline Moynat in travel goods to open the company's first store at Avenue de l'Opera, France. The house participa ...

Gare du Nord The Gare du Nord (; ), officially Paris Nord, is one of the seven large mainline railway station termini in Paris, France. The station is served by trains that run between the capital and northern France via the Paris–Lille railway, as well ...

Haute-Marne Haute-Marne (; English: Upper Marne) is a department in the Grand Est region of Northeastern France. Named after the river Marne, its prefecture is Chaumont. In 2019, it had a population of 172,512.Saint-Quentin market. They established the Maison Bertin Frères in 1871. The boutique on Boulevard de Denain specialised in guns, ammunitions, travel, as well as hunting and fishing goods. Their travel section displayed many different types of trunks (namely postal trunks, rounded trunks, canteen trunks, wicker trunks, flat trunks, wooden trunks covered in a brown canvas, "anglaises" trunks made out of wicker and covered in leather, automobile trunks, etc.), leather suitcases, handbags and stocked vanity cases. The Bertin Frères business flourished and a second shop, trading under Au Départ, was opened in Paris at 29,

Avenue de l'Opéra The Avenue de l'Opéra () was created from 1864 to 1879 as part of Haussmann's renovation of Paris. It is situated in the center of the city, running northwest from the Louvre to the Palais Garnier, the primary opera house of Paris (until the ope ...

in 1874. The boutique specialised in travel accessories and leather goods produced in the Belleville, Belleville workshops managed by the Bertin brothers. The brothers invented several related techniques which they were to patent, namely a new production technique for trunks and a new process to render hides and leather products completely waterproof.

Maisons Bertin Jeune et Bertin Fils

Ernest Bertin, who lived above the Boulevard de Denain boutique, dedicated himself to hunting accessories and established Bertin Fils. Paul Bertin, who for his part lived above the Avenue de l'Opéra boutique, established Bertin Jeune with his sons and continued to specialise in travel goods. The two Maisons Bertin Jeune and Bertin Fils coexisted. Upon Ernest Bertin's death in 1905 the store on boulevard de Denain was sold and the Au Départ shop inside closed circa 1910. On its side, the boutique located on the avenue de l'Opéra continued to prosper. File:Boutique Au Départ - boulevard de Denain.jpg, Interior of Au Départ store, 7 boulevard Denain, Paris, 1890s File:Boutique Au Départ Opéra 1905.jpg, Au Départ store, 29

avenue de l'Opéra The Avenue de l'Opéra () was created from 1864 to 1879 as part of Haussmann's renovation of Paris. It is situated in the center of the city, running northwest from the Louvre to the Palais Garnier, the primary opera house of Paris (until the ope ...

, Paris, circa 1900 File:Publicité pour la maison Au départ, L'Illustration 1928.jpg, ''Au Départ'' advertising published in ''

L'Illustration ''L'Illustration'' (; 1843–1944) was a French language, French illustrated weekly newspaper published in Paris. It was founded by Édouard Charton with the first issue published on 4 March 1843, it became the first illustrated newspaper in ...

'', December 1928 File:Au Départ Ad.jpg, ''Au Départ'' advertising published in ''Pan - L'Annuaire du Luxe'', 1928 Au Départ reached its heyday in the 1920s under the leadership of François Bertin, the son of Paul Bertin. In order to differentiate its products, Au Départ is to cover some of its products with a "damier" chequered canvas, offering an alternative to the monogram canvases proposed by the Maisons

Louis Vuitton Louis Vuitton Malletier SAS, commonly known as Louis Vuitton (, ), is a French Luxury goods, luxury fashion house and company founded in 1854 by Louis Vuitton (designer), Louis Vuitton. The label's LV monogram appears on most of its products, ...

and

Goyard Goyard is a French trunk maker founded in 1853 in Paris. The company originated as Maison Morel, which was later acquired by François Goyard (1828-1890), establishing the Goyard family in the trade of trunk making and luxury packing. His son E ...

. Au Départ is also to actively promote its wares by regularly placing advertisements in the magazine

L'Illustration ''L'Illustration'' (; 1843–1944) was a French language, French illustrated weekly newspaper published in Paris. It was founded by Édouard Charton with the first issue published on 4 March 1843, it became the first illustrated newspaper in ...

under the theme "A Beautiful Journey Begins". In 1928, Au Départ was selected with a hundred other luxury brands to feature in the very prestigious Pan-Annuaire du Luxe à Paris (a directory of Parisian luxury) under the direction of the designer

Paul Poiret Paul Poiret (20 April 1879 – 30 April 1944) was a French fashion designer, a master couturier during the first two decades of the 20th century. He was the founder of his namesake haute couture house. Early life and career Poiret was bor ...

. The advertising featured was designed by French artist Yann-Benard Dyl.

Partnerships with great Parisian trunk-makers

On 2 July 1932 François Bertin, on behalf of Au Départ, created a new company, the Coopération Industrielle et Commerciale ("CIC"), in partnership with the directors of the four other great trunk-makers of the time (

Louis Vuitton Louis Vuitton Malletier SAS, commonly known as Louis Vuitton (, ), is a French Luxury goods, luxury fashion house and company founded in 1854 by Louis Vuitton (designer), Louis Vuitton. The label's LV monogram appears on most of its products, ...

,

Goyard Goyard is a French trunk maker founded in 1853 in Paris. The company originated as Maison Morel, which was later acquired by François Goyard (1828-1890), establishing the Goyard family in the trade of trunk making and luxury packing. His son E ...

,

Moynat Moynat is a Parisian trunkmaker, founded in Paris in 1849 by Octavie and François Coulembier. They collaborated with specialist Pauline Moynat in travel goods to open the company's first store at Avenue de l'Opera, France. The house participa ...

, et Aux Etats-Unis) in the face of the economic crisis. The five "Maisons" joined forces, notably for the purchase of raw materials and travel items and for patent registrations. The cooperation was to last until 1935.

The Moynat Au Départ merger

After the death of François Bertin in 1964, his son Alain took over the business. To counter the drop in sales, a merger with the historical competitor on the

Avenue de l'Opéra The Avenue de l'Opéra () was created from 1864 to 1879 as part of Haussmann's renovation of Paris. It is situated in the center of the city, running northwest from the Louvre to the Palais Garnier, the primary opera house of Paris (until the ope ...

, the trunk-maker Moynat, was envisaged. In 1958, the two companies formally merged. The boutique at 29

Avenue de l'Opéra The Avenue de l'Opéra () was created from 1864 to 1879 as part of Haussmann's renovation of Paris. It is situated in the center of the city, running northwest from the Louvre to the Palais Garnier, the primary opera house of Paris (until the ope ...

was closed down, and from then on the business trades under the double name "Moynat Au Départ" at Moynat's historical boutique at No.1

Avenue de l'Opéra The Avenue de l'Opéra () was created from 1864 to 1879 as part of Haussmann's renovation of Paris. It is situated in the center of the city, running northwest from the Louvre to the Palais Garnier, the primary opera house of Paris (until the ope ...

. Alain Bertin became chairman and CEO of the new company, whilst Maurice Coulembier was named director. The Moynat-Au Départ shop ceased trading in 1976.

The Revival

Both Moynat and Au Départ were separately acquired and reintroduced by

Luvanis Luvanis S.A. is a private investment company headquartered in Luxembourg and specialized in the incubation and revival of long-dormant luxury brands, also coined as “sleeping beauties”. History In 2007, Guy de Lummen and his son Arnaud de L ...

. Purchased by

Groupe Arnault A group is a military unit or a military formation that is most often associated with military aviation. Air and aviation groups The terms group and wing differ significantly from one country to another, as well as between different branches o ...

, the holding company of

Bernard Arnault Bernard Jean Étienne Arnault (; born 5 March 1949) is a French businessman, investor, and art collector. He is the founder, chairman and CEO of LVMH, the world's largest luxury goods company. Arnault is one of the richest individuals in the ...

, Moynat was relaunched in December 2011 with the opening of a flagship store at 348,

rue du Faubourg Saint Honoré ''Ruta graveolens'', commonly known as rue, common rue or herb-of-grace, is a species of the genus ''Ruta'' grown as an ornamental plant and herb. It is native to the Mediterranean. It is grown throughout the world in gardens, especially for it ...

in Paris.

Au Départ brand relaunched in April 2019 upon the Milan Design Week in Italy, with an installation of old trunks from the Au Départ historical archive and the introduction of new trunks. Au Départ released a new collection of trunks and bags featuring the signature monogram motif upon a launch on Paris' historic rue Saint Honoré in 2019 available within a selection of high-end retailers. In 2024 Au Départ opened its first new boutique at 20

Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré The Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré () is a street located in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, France. Relatively narrow and nondescript, especially in comparison to the nearby Champs-Élysées, Avenue des Champs-Élysées, it is cited as being on ...

. It also opened a shop-within-a-shop in Seoul, South Korea.

Sources

*Bertin Frères, Au Départ, Chasse 1885–1886, catalog, 1885 *Bertin Jeune, Au Départ, catalog, 1905 *Loyer, François (dir.), Autour de l'Opéra. Naissance de la ville moderne, Action artistique de la Ville de Paris, 1995 *Maison Bertin Fils, Au Départ, catalog, 1895 *Moynat-Au Départ, catalog, 1965 *Rolland, Jean-Philippe, Kieffer-Rolland, Marie, ''Restauration des malles de voyage'', Eyrolles, 2008 *Tzenkoff, Pierre, ''

Goyard Goyard is a French trunk maker founded in 1853 in Paris. The company originated as Maison Morel, which was later acquired by François Goyard (1828-1890), establishing the Goyard family in the trade of trunk making and luxury packing. His son E ...

, Malletier, Maison fondée en 1792'', édition

Devambez Maison Devambez is the name of a fine printer's firm in Paris. It operated under that name from 1873, when a printing business established by the royal engraver Hippolyte Brasseux in 1826 was acquired by Édouard Devambez. At first the firm sp ...

, 2010, p. 44 dedicated to Maison Au Départ

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Au Depart Luggage manufacturers Manufacturing companies based in Paris Manufacturing companies established in 1834 Luggage brands French brands 1834 establishments in France French companies established in 1834

History

The Origins

The Expansion

Maison Bertin Frères

Maisons Bertin Jeune et Bertin Fils

Partnerships with great Parisian trunk-makers

The Moynat Au Départ merger

The Revival

Sources

See also

References