House of Heritage

At Louis Vuitton’s workshop and family home just outside Paris, meticulous craftsmanship is a way of life

- ALICE CAVANAGH

TO TRAVEL FROM the center of Paris to Asnièressur-Seine, about six miles northwest, is to witness a cross section of the city's evolution: Neoclassical monuments give way to the industrial suburb of Clichy, where corporate giants are headquartered and sustainable urbanism is taking hold.

From there the Seine cuts through the city sprawl as it snakes its way north, and several traffic-strewn bridges take you over the Left Bank to reach the small commune, a hub of creation that has hummed away just outside the city's periphery for the past 150 years.

In the mid to late 19th century, Asnières-surSeine's streets, lined with elegant brick villas, became a charming refuge from city life for the burgeoning middle class. This was the appeal for a trunk maker named Louis Vuitton, who built a workshop here in 1859. From this base, Vuitton, who became the official packer and box maker for Empress Eugénie de Montijo, wife of Napoleon III, established his leather-goods empire-helped by the advent of train travel and his ingenious courier trunks.