Louis Vuitton was born into a working-class family; his father was a farmer and his mother a milliner. In the Spring of 1935, at only 13, Louis started his two years long journey of traveling to Paris. He traveled 470 kilometers (293 miles) by foot, taking jobs along the way to keep himself alive. Finally arriving in Paris, he was 16 years old, and soon got the opportunity to apprentice at the successful box-making and packing workshop of Monsieur Maréchal, where he ended up working for 17 years. Quickly Louis gained a reputation as being one of the best in this field. When in 1852 Napoleon III gained the title of Emperor of France, his wife, Eugenie de Montijo, hired Louis Vuitton as her personal box-maker and packer. This was the entry into an entirely new clientele of the royal and elite, so business was going great for Louis Vuitton. The same year, he left Monsieur Maréchal to open his own box-making and packing workshop in Paris. This first shop was located on 4 Rue Neuve-des-Capucines in Paris, France, and marks the official start of Louis Vuitton as a business. With his own workshop, he started making his own creations and designs. He, for example, started using canvas instead of leather, which made the trunks waterproof and very durable. In 1858, the business gained even more popularity with the introduction of rectangular trunks. This was revolutionary for the time because this made it possible for the trunks to be stacked, unlike the “normal” rounded topped trunks. In 1859, Louis was able to expand his business with a second, bigger workshop in Asnieres, a village outside of Paris. Vuitton passed away when he was 70, in 1892. He left his only child, his son Georges Vuitton, in charge of the company. It was only in 1997 when Louis Vuitton appointed their first ever Creative Director. The American fashion designer, Marc Jacobs, who previously worked for Balenciaga, was hired to introduce Louis Vuitton to the fashion world. He was hired to design men’s and women’s ready-to-wear collections, and within a year he released his first collection. Marc Jacobs decided to step down as creative director in 2013, so he could focus on his own brand (he did this with the help of LVMH). His position as Creative Director at Louis Vuitton was filled by three different designers; Nicolas Ghesquière took over the design of women’s collections, Kim Jones became responsible for menswear, and Darren Spaziani was appointed to run luxury leather goods. American fashion designer Virgil Abloh became the new artistic director of menswear in 2018. Virgil Abloh continued as a head designer all the way up until his sudden death in 2021.