By Paulina Adriana Riquelme Nino, MBA in International Luxury Brand Management 2013-2014, Mexico
On September 23, the MBA in Luxury Management had the opportunity to visit the workshop of Luis Vuitton located just northwest of central Paris in a charming area of Asnières-sur-Seine.
The site welcomes visitors with a nice, small garden, along with the old house where Vuitton’s family lived
until some years ago. We could enjoy part of the heritage and craftsmanship captured through the objects displayed throughout the house, though the images and pictures on the walls, and through the elaborate Art Nouveau decoration. All this created an atmosphere of exclusivity. The second floor of the house served as a small museum to share the history of the brand. There you can enjoy examining the first luggage and bags decorated with the patterns that Louis Vuitton developed. Then we headed to the workshop, where we could appreciate the ‘savoir faire’ and the exceptional craftsmanship embodied in all products. This where leather goods and other special products, including trunks, are created on site.
Overall, this visit gave the class a sense of curiosity about the brand’s history and a greater awareness of the importance of story-telling for creating a link between a brand and a customer. This is extremely important for luxury brands, where heritage plays a key role in defining the brand and its relationship with the customer.
