CAME ACROSS THIS COLLECTION of patented trunk locks this morning, by Moynat, one of the oldest French trunk-makers (1849) and one of the very first leather goods houses of its day. Their first atelier was open in Paris by trunk-makers Octavie and François Coulembier.
They would joined with Pauline Moynat, a specialist in travel goods, to open the first store on avenue de l’Opera. The company would become known for its traditional knowledge and skills in handcrafting made-to-order luggage and travel goods, and would even become famous for its designs for automobiles, as well as for technical innovations such as making travel trunks lighter and waterproof.
The Moynat boutique became an institution, staying open continuously for well over a hundred years until 1976, when it closed. The Scholl family bought the rights to the house in the early 1980’s for use by its company Malles et Voyages. Orcofi, the Vuitton family’s holding company, bought Malles et Voyages in 1989, following the disposal of the bulk of its shares in LVMH. Orcofi’s CEO, Vuitton’s former President Henry Racamier, had planned to relaunch Moynat as a competitor to Louis Vuitton, however Orcofi was eventually sold to AXA in 1996 and its assets were stripped, thus the ambitious plans to relaunch Moynat never saw the light of day.
Luxury holding company Luvanis SA bought the rights to Moynat in 2009. Groupe Arnault, LVMH’s CEO Bernard Arnault’s holding company bought Moynat in 2010 with plans to relaunch operations by 2011.
In Decemember 2011, a Moynat boutique was opened at 348 rue Saint-Honoré, not far from the Hermès boutique at 24, rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, Paris, and remains open today.
