Goyard
History
1828
Francois Goyard was born on September 8th,1828, in Clamecy, Burgundy - an area also known as the Venice of the Nivern. Throughout the previous two centuries, his family was Compagnon de Rivière. Hence, they were experts at the transportation of wood, by river, from the forests of Morvan up to Paris - where it was used to heat homes in the city. Travelling twenty kilometres per day, the Goyards would float vast batches of wood - in train-like formations, seventy five metres long and five metres wide - taking eleven days to navigate the Yonne and the Seine. The return journey would subsequently be made on foot.
1832
However, when Francois’ father, Edme Goyard (1801-1879) turned thirty years old, in 1832, he decided to move his family to Paris, in search of a more rewarding type of life.
1845
By 1845, and now aged seventeen, Francois became an apprentice at Morel, which, in 1836, had acquired the esteemed Maison Martin - packing case and trunk maker of Son Altesse Royale Madame la Duchesse of Berry, step daughter of King Charles X, mother of the heir of the throne, located 4 rue Neuve des Capucines - and renowned as the greatest company of its ilk within Paris. Long before this, in 1828, Maison Martin had purchased Meffre, also a packer founded in 1792, and moved to 233 rue Saint-honoré. In 1820, Meffre was the successor of Catelouze who originally moved from 355 to 347 rue Saint Honoré which became 233, rue Saint Honoré when the number of the street were changed.
Monsieur Henri Morel perceived François Goyard as someone who was clearly capable of becoming his successor. So, after Morel’s death, in 1852, Francois duly became the heir of the company, located at rue Saint Honore since 1805 and by now long-imbued with the collective expertise and heritage of all those aforementioned companies, steadily acquired over the years. Since the First Empire it had been the most prestigious Layetiers, Coffretiers, Emballeurs. Following on from this, labels placed inside the trunks proudly declared, ‘Goyard, Successeur de Monsieur Morel’. A whole new era opened up, as La Maison Goyard was born…
1853
On October 11th, 1853, Francois Goyard married a young couturier named Leopoldine Delaporte. Edmond, their son, was eventually born on 11th August, 1860, and he would grow up at 233 rue Saint-Honore - spending much of his childhood between the boutique and the apartment above, on the first floor. A second baby boy, called Maurice, followed soon afterwards.
1885
By the age of 25, Edmond Goyard (1860-1937) took over from his father’s role, while Maurice became a jeweller on the Place de la Madeleine. La Maison Goyard was given the new name of E. Goyard Aine. The initial E not only acknowledged Edmond, of course, but also paid homage to his grandfather, Edme Goyard, who had died six years earlier.
Edmond went on to open boutiques in various locations - including Bordeaux, Biarritz and Monte Carlo, in addition to the John Wanamaker stores found in New York and Philadelphia. Around the end of the 19th century, the mark ‘Ne Ct’ (meaning Notable Commerant) was adorning all catalogues, receipts and labels. Not only did this give a clear indication of the brand’s success, but - on a more personal level - it also confirmed the family’s long journey, in a relatively short period of time, from Clamecy to the rue Saint-Honore.
1900
Edmond Goyard decided to participate in the Exposition Universelle et Internationale of Paris, in 1900, resulting in him winning the bronze medal. In 1906, in Milan, he subsequently garnered the gold medal, and by 1908, at the French-British Exposition in London, he was once more awarded gold. Edmond thereafter continued to win additional medals throughout the various World Fairs taking place in Brussels, London and San Francisco. By now, La Maison Goyard had became the favourite luggage-maker of the international set. As proof of its prestige, aristocratic families would request their Goyard luggage be marked with their own coats of arms. In the midst of this undeniably glamorous era, Goyard opened a specific department for “dogs, cats, monkeys”. Here, they provided harnesses, kennels, boots and - amazingly - even protective automobile glasses for those faithful, furry friends of the great and the good.
1923
In 1923, on his 30th birthday and the 70th anniversary of La Maison Goyard, Edmond’s son, Robert Goyard (1893-1979), assumed full responsibility for the management of the shop, with Edmond remaining involved as Creative Director. As a Captain, Robert Goyard had proved himself during the First World War when he was awarded the Legion of Honor, Croix de Guerre with four citations, as well as the Military Cross.
La Maison Goyard took the Award of Honour, in 1925, via the extremely prestigious Exposition of Decorative Arts at the Grand Palais - at which all the great names of the profession were present. A patent for the Malle Bureau was later obtained by La Maison Goyard, on December 3rd, 1931. During its development this had become a veritable, not to mention covetable, piece of furniture in its own right. Comprising of a portable trunk, which included a writing table, it could also neatly accommodate a typewriter - ideal for the aforementioned writer Conan Doyle! - along with papers and indispensable documents.
1936
On December 9th, 1936, Robert Goyard decided - along with his friends and contemporaries at Boucheron, Cartier, Charvet, Chaumet, Guerlain, Morgan and Ritz - to unite the most prestigious houses of the Place Vendome. The head office of the resulting Vendome Committee was, inevitably, 233 rue Saint-Honore. Edmond Goyard died in 1937, and consequently Robert Goyard assumed the role of the family’s leader, prior to his death in 1979. Following this, his son, Francois Edmond Goyard - sharing the same name as the founder of the brand - continued to assert the intrinsic values of La Maison Goyard.
1940-1945
The store, 233, rue Saint Honoré is closed.
In the late 1990s, Goyard was purchased by the Signoles family, and the company introduced several new colours at that time. Goyard is renowned for monogramming the durable, lightweight canvas with the initials of its customers upon request. To this day, Goyard produces special orders and bespoke pieces, made to order in Carcassonne, France.
Other famous clients have included: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Madonna, Karl Lagerfeld, Gregory Peck, Pablo Picasso, Gary Cooper, Debra Messing, Kanye West, John D. Rockefeller, Nigo, and Lupe Fiasco.
Custom made order
As a long-established testament to La Maison Goyard’s creativity and versatility, custom made orders enable the most specific, subtle or unusual of requirements to be produced to the highest standard possible.
The iconic Goyard chevron
The fabric represents three chevrons, juxtaposed to form a Y. This evokes not only the name of the Maison itself, but also the universal allegory of the tree; symbolizing both Man, along with three centuries of the Goyard family history and their “Companions of the River” ancestors.
Fabric: the process
Edmond Goyard always keenly embraced every possible innovation. Using the family’s knowledge of wood, he developed a natural, resistant and waterproof canvas, which, from then on, covered the trunks. Goyard continues to weave its material using this technique established by Edmond.
The Goyard fabric is made of linen, cotton and hemp woven together. The natural unbleached linen, produced in a workshop in Carcassonne, is shaved and heated manually - thereby subtly erasing the hollows, knots and other irregularities which often appear in linen. Those that inevitably remain become part of the fabric’s individual character and history - ensuring uniqueness. The subsequent ageing process sees this natural fabric become even more distinctive with the passage of time.
All the shades of the Maison Goyard fabrics need four successive, manual dippings into the cadrette, in order to create the quartet of colours synonymous with the Goyard motif. The gum Arabic, which works to obtain the colour pigments, is placed on the cadrette composed of silk threads. With the help of a scraper, the gum Arabic penetrates - but only passes to precise parts of the cadrette - to meticulously print the design upon the fabric. The cadrette is moved around all over the fabric several times during the printing process. After each eight times, the cadrette is cleaned in water to keep the silk threads from getting dirty.
Significantly, La Maison Goyard has always refrained from making this process automatic. Hence, as the points composing the pattern are extremely delicate - and therefore never quite identical - each piece of fabric remains totally personal.
After each colour application, the fabric must dry for a whole day. The overall colour density can duly be affected by subtle changes in temperature, enabling additional, pleasing variations of hue to appear. The seams are not visible - even when subjected to the most careful scrutiny. Only the nuances of the new fabric which appear during this drying stage (or the delicate signs of ageing found in much older trunks) fully confirm the authenticity of the handmade process.
Retail Ethos
Unlike many other companies, Goyard encourages its clients away from less intimate retail experiences - such as those offered by online catalogues or e-commerce websites - in order to maintain its time-honoured practice of personalised attention. Clients are instead initially advised to contact Goyard directly by email or telephone, or visit one of the various Goyard stores, for enquiries relating to the existing range of classic designs, or specific made to measure items.
Goyard locations
Goyard is located in Paris, Beverly Hills, Boston, Hong Kong, Kyoto, London, New York, Osaka, San Francisco, Sao Paolo, Seoul and Tokyo. A new London premises opens in the midst of Mayfair, at 116 Mount Street, in summer 2009.