Goyard - Living By The Mantra of Fashion

If you wonder what that mantra is, it’s pretty simple: Quality. Bag maker Goyard has been around since the early 1900s and is best known for the quality of its handbags and trunks. People who purchase Goyard bags despite its relatively high price tag are usually after the brand name and the quality of the materials used for the bags as well as the craftsmanship. Goyard is popular for the craftsmanship involved in making its bags; the brand is also well known for the exclusivity and elusiveness of its bags. Although Goyard accept orders for personalized handbags, its collections still remain limited.

Most well-known bag makers and designers have online stores where avid fashion enthusiasts and bag collectors can order their bags, but Goyard remains elusive because its bags are not available online. People can only get information on where Goyard stores are located worldwide from these websites, but they will have to personally contact the brand’s sales agents in order to place orders or to be waitlisted for specific bags. Goyard bags are pretty uncommon because they are limited, pricey, and not easily accessible to all bag collectors.

Goyard is not as well known in other countries as other French brands such as Chanel, Hermes and Louis Vuitton, but its patrons support this luxury handbag and luggage maker mainly because of the brand’s history and the quality of its bags. Goyard bags are known for being resilient, lightweight and waterproof; their designs are also popular among a lot of bag collectors because of their unique pattern. The bags are made from the brand’s own material made from cotton, linen and cotton woven altogether and to which gum Arabic resin is added.

Its handbags and trunks showcase a three-dimensional chevron pattern that seems painted by hand. The pattern is actually impressed one color at a time using a cadrette. This entire process creates the illusion that the pattern is three-dimensional. The “E. Goyard” name is also visible on the bags as part of the 3D illusion and at the bottom or sides of the bags, depending on the model.

Goyard bags are not as popular as other designer bags but Goyard’s history as a maker of luxury luggage, trunks and handbags for royalty and French aristocratic families way back in the late 1800s make it one of the most sough-after brands by celebrities, bag collectors, fashion enthusiasts, and people with high social status.

With the brand’s popularity though come several problems which include knock-off versions of Goyard bags. For people who are not able to tell the original Goyard bags from the fake ones, they should try feeling the material and looking at the edgings of the bags. Because the chevron pattern is made with impressions of paint, the dots will feel like actual bumps against the material. Fake bags will have shiny and smooth surfaces because the imitated pattern is usually printed.

Louis Vuitton Totally Rips Off Goyard

Louis Vuitton has totally ripped off Goyard's trademark stripes and embellishments that customers custom ordered after getting a Goyard bag.

German Magazine, Classic Driver highlights the copycatting on their website, where several Louis Vuitton bags and luggage dressed in blue, yellow, green stripes as well as the initials of the purported bag owners.

Goyard may not have have been the first to do stripes on the bag, but Louis Vuitton could've done something more creative than completely copy the Goyard bag's signature look.

Goyard

If you haven't heard of Goyard yet, let's try to keep it between you and me. Goyard is probably the last real luxury atelier in France that still caters to a market outside of France. Goyard makes handbags, wallets, and totes in small batch quantities, all hand made in their workshops in France. With the stores, you can order direct from the atelier (workshop in French) where you can custom design practically anything you want - luggage, dog leashes, briefcases, and the occasional steamer trunk, like the kind they used on the Titanic.

La Maison Goyard is the official name of the atelier, and it was established in 1853 by François Goyard (1828-1890), then and still located on the rue Saint-Honoré in Paris. The fabric of Goyard is symbolic, representing three chevrons, juxtaposed to form a Y. This evokes not only the name of the Maison itself, but also the tree; symbolizing three centuries of the Goyard family history and their “Compagnon de Rivière” ancestors.

Goyard has retail stores in Paris, Beverly Hills, Boston, Hong Kong, Kyoto, London, New York City, Osaka, San Francisco, Sao Paolo, Seoul and Tokyo. The atelier is located across the street from the retail store in Paris, on the Rue St. Honore.

Goyard wallets prices start at around $500-$550, depending on color.

Goyard totes prices start at around $2,000, depending on color.

Goyard bags and totes, start at around $800, depending on color and size.

Read more: The official Goyard website