Buying Wallets for men and cardholders | Louis Vuitton Goyard |
A dozen stories up in a building overlooking the square of the Union, six craftsmen sit in white lab coat with a magnifying glass, laboriously working on Goyard handbags and luggage Do not seams, but embellishing thoroughly french luxury goods with monograms, stripes, flowers, animals and other design customers can dream.
The paint shop is one of three in the world operated by Goyard - the other two are in Tokyo and Carcassonne, in the south of France The San Francisco office handles all work requested by customers States States, at a rate of 250 300 portfolios, canvas totes, rolling luggage and other items each month of the year, all year round.
Monograms - the initials embossed by hand on custom shoes at Gucci bags Ferragamo red carpet - is a surefire way to add an extra level of luxury goods plume It also polishes the appeal of consumer products, Ms M necklaces and personalized initials Converse tennies with the nickname of the customer on the heel.
Goyard, however, has been at it for over a century.
The French luggage, reputed to be the oldest and most prestigious in the business, has roots in the Maison Martin founded in 1792 and became Goyard in 1853 The company has emerged as a favorite of aristocratic families who had their trunks painted with arm coats.
The monograms never stopped, said the design studio manager Graciela Cors for Goyard deductible in San Francisco is one of the few houses that have preserved the tradition.
In the days of steamboat travel, where many trunks looked alike, monograms and coats of arms are useful for identification, Horns said today, Goyard customers enjoy customizing as a status symbol and a advantage of fashion.
Certainly anyone could slap a sticker on a handbag, tote bag or purse to make a statement but monograms Goyard is supposed to last the life of the bag or trunk.
The process begins with purchasing a bag, purse or in the trunk Goyard sells its goods in the shops here and in Tokyo, London and Paris, and at Bergdorf Goodman in New York and Barneys New York stores in New York, Boston and Beverly Hills the clients are presented with 17 colors and two styles of lettering for monograms, stripes, words or other images customers can also submit their own design patterns - including domestic animals, dragons the signs of the zodiac, nautical symbols, logos and designs freeform, to name a few.
Each design is transferred to a stencil, and then mapped on the product, and hand-painted with boar hair brushes for a smooth finish paints are oil-based, and craftsmen mix with solvents and glue, all measured in grams, to better adhere to the product surfaces.
Depending on the complexity of the design and the number of colors used, each piece can take between two weeks and two months to finish each coat of paint needs 24 hours to dry.
Painters Goyard form at headquarters before being allowed to work on expensive bags from the line to avoid costly mistakes Of les six architects of San Francisco Gerardo Ruiz hired by Goyard there a year engineer by training, he like painting, because it is different each time, with different colors - it is difficult, he said.
Christine Mendez worked for six years in the studio 13 floors above the shop Goyard, studied art history and photography, she worked in a research center for archeology in Mexico, restoration of archaeological discoveries in the laboratory, I'm quite good with my hands, she said.
Although it is intended to be permanent, monograms can be removed, a request often made when a customer divorce and change his initials Jessica Simpson, for example, removed the letter from the center a monogram after it is separated from Nick Lachey and replaced by a star, told Horns.
The work is difficult and time consuming, requiring the use of chemicals and pliers for months to raise paint chips Sting size of the surface one at a time so the surface is usually painted.
As Goyard products, which range from 1600 for a tote canvas bag 6000, for a trunk, monograms service has a price - about 150 for lettering, another 150 bands, 600 for a flower and to a customer in Dubai has recently purchased a chest on wheels and requested a cable car to paint on one side and the family shield in the other, a graph Horns designed from scratch, and a project 3000 will add to the bill.
The craftsmen take their work seriously, some to the point of waking up at night with worry, says Lizbeth Becera who worked at the studio for five years Sometimes you have nightmares about the customer being angry and refusing to take bag, she said.
Fortunately, said Marcela Sepulveda store manager that never took place in San Francisco.
Horns said the biggest problem occurs when husbands come to buy a bag and monogram and choose the bands to surprise their wives they forget one important thing they aren t for customization themselves.
Paying for painting, but let her choose, Horns advised wives often hate the colors they choose.
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