Transport och mobilitet på Galeries Lafayette

Abstract

This article tells the history of luggage with the starting point in the sales catalogs from Galeries Lafayette’s archives, where not least Louis Vuitton is one of the famous producers. Travel was expanding at a time when crinolines were the height of fashion. Such garments must be carefully folded and packed in a suitcase. The many accessories that represented the feminine clothing were packed in special containers for gloves, shoes and hats. The history of luggage is intimately connected with the development of new modes of travel. The introduction of the flat suitcase in 1858 by French trunk maker Louis Vuitton represented a turning point in the history of luggage. The bags could now be stacked in railway cars and in the holds of ships. Air traffic requirements of light weight resulted in special air luggage. The trend has been from the 1800s emphasis on the interior of trunks to the prominence of the lusciously designed outside, from the unwieldy trunks to wheeled lightweight bags, from women who simply could only travel without her husband and a carrier to an independent woman traveling by herself. History shows tensions between aesthetics and convenience, public and private, uniqueness and standardization, male and female.