Louis Vuitton Marks 130 Years of the Monogram

Introduced in 1896, Louis Vuitton’s monogram canvas has become one of the most recognisable design codes in luxury. In 2026, the house is marking 130 years of the pattern with dedicated store windows and a set of special-edition releases built around its most established bag silhouettes and three new capsule collections.

DROITS RESTREINTS | A detail shot of a low trunk in monogram canvas circa 1906, part of the Louis Vuitton archive.

For 130 years, the Louis Vuitton monogram canvas has operated as both motif and signature. The pattern was created in 1896 by Georges Vuitton as a tribute to his father, Louis Vuitton, who founded the maison. Built around interlaced LV initials and floral medallions, the monogram is part of the brand’s protected identity—patented, and closely associated with the house’s travel and leather goods universe.

To open 2026—the anniversary year—Louis Vuitton is placing the monogram back onto its most recognisable product names. The house is highlighting the Speedy (1930), the Keepall (1930), and the Noé (1932), alongside the Alma (1992) and the Neverfull (2007). Positioned together, the selection reads as a condensed history of Louis Vuitton bag design: practical forms that became widely replicated references across categories, from travel to everyday carry.

Alongside these familiar silhouettes, Louis Vuitton is introducing three special-edition lines that reinterpret monogram codes through materials and construction, drawing on trunk-making savoir-faire while pushing the surface treatment in different directions.

Courtesy of Louis Vuitton | Pieces from the three commemorative collections: the VVN, the Monogram Origine, and the Time Trunk Collection.

The Monogram Origine Collection is built as a return to the earliest 1896 rendition of the pattern through a new monogram canvas. It revisits a traditional jacquard weave and takes inspiration from the cover of an archival client register, translating that reference into a contemporary material execution.

The VVN Collection shifts the focus to leather. Described as an ode to Louis Vuitton leather goods, it is crafted in natural cowhide and finished by hand, with the intention that each piece develops a unique patina over time—an approach that makes the aging of the material part of the design.

The third line, the Time Trunk Collection, bridges historical trunk references with a more graphic, technique-driven result. Using bold trompe l’oeil printing of texture and metallic detail, it reframes trunk cues through illusion—playing with what looks tactile versus what is printed.

Across all three collections, Louis Vuitton’s aim is direct: reposition the monogram as a code that can be revisited and reworked—through weave, leather, and print—while staying anchored to the house’s foundational visual language. At 130 years, the monogram is not being treated as a static archive element; it is being used as a design system, pushed across product and material choices to signal how Louis Vuitton wants the pattern to read in its next chapter.