

With stops along the way to make money so that he could forge ahead, the journey took a couple of years, but reward was close at hand. The young Vuitton was 13 at the time and would need to travel on foot to get to the capital, which was hundreds of miles away. The company’s modest origins can be traced back to when its founder, Louis Vuitton (1821–92), wishing to free himself from the conventional lifestyle in his provincial French city of Anchay as well as a difficult stepmother, left in the early 1830s to make a new life in Paris. Vintage: Vintage Louis Vuitton items (pre-1980) do not have date codes, and on some old materials, the date codes may have faded out or it will be too blurry to see.The story behind iconic luxury brand Louis Vuitton - best known for its esteemed handbags, crossbody bags, leather goods, ready-to-wear clothing and more - is one of craft and innovation in the worlds of fashion, jewelry and furniture. The two letters, appearing for the first time, identify the factory and country where the bag was manufactured.ĭate code decoded: 88 = 1988, 2 = February, VI = France The first two numbers represent the year, and the last numbers represent the month.

In the mid-to-late 1980s, date codes were three or four numbers followed by two letters. The first two numbers represent the year, and the last number represents the month. In the early 1980s, date codes were only three or four numbers. During this time, the date code format changed regularly. The first and third numbers represent the month and the second and last number represents the year.ĭate code decoded: SP = France, 06 = 6th month, 05 = 2005ġ980s – 1990s: Beginning in 1982, Louis Vuitton added codes to every item to indicate when and where it was made.

The first and third number represents the week, the second and last number represents the year.ĭate code decoded: SR = France, 3179 = 37th week of 2019ġ990 – 2006: The first two letters indicate the factory location. The letters indicate the country where the item was made while the numbers indicate the month/year of the production date.Ģ007- Now: The first two letters indicate the factory location. Louis Vuitton’s date codes are a combination of letters and numbers.
