Goyard Leather Steamer Trunk

Maison Martin quickly became a favorite with the French aristocracy and was eventually granted the prestigious title of ‘Official Purveyor’ to French and Italian royalty, including Marie-Caroline of Bourbon-Siciles, Duchesse de Berry.

Maison Martin moved its store from 4, Rue Neuve des Capucines to 347, Rue Saint-Honoré, in 1834. In a surprising coincidence, Louis Vuitton went on to open his store at 4, Rue Neuve des Capucines just twenty years later. Martin was the guardian of a young female ward, Pauline Moutat, and arranged her marriage to one of his employees, Louis-Henri Morel, in 1841. He gave Morel his business as her dowry.

Four years later, Morel employed Edmé Goyard (1801–1879) and his son François (1828–1890), who had traveled to Paris from their native Bourgogne. This marks the moment that the name Goyard is introduced to the story.

Morel died suddenly in 1852, and François purchased the business in 1853. The name he eventually chose for his company was Goyard Aîné (French for "elder," François being the firstborn among the Goyard brothers), to differentiate himself from his siblings.

François handed the company over to his eldest son Edmond Goyard (1860–1937) in 1888, and the name changed again to E. Goyard Aîné, both in recognition of himself and his grandfather, Edmé, who had died six years earlier. Edmond turned the store on Rue Saint-Honoré into an elite luxury showroom with an international clientele. He even introduced a “Chic du Chien” range, providing bowls, harnesses, boots, and even protective automobile glasses for cats, dogs, and monkeys.

In 1892, Edmond took the Y in his surname and turned it into a chevron design, hand-painted in a series of dots on Goyard canvas. This was the first appearance of the iconic ‘Goyardine’ pattern in a hand-painted format. The piled-up dot pattern hints at the log-driving heritage of the Goyard family.

Stores soon opened in Monte Carlo and Biarritz, with further concessions in the U.S., England, Belgium, Spain, and Russia. John Wanamaker became Goyard’s exclusive agent in the U.S. in 1899.

In the early 1900s, Edmond won medals at the Exposition Universelle et Internationale of Paris, Milan’s L’Esposizione Internazionale del Sempione, and the Franco-British Exposition in London. The Goyard name went from strength to strength in high society, and Edmond’s son, Robert, assumed the role of Goyard’s manager in 1923, with Edmond continuing as the creative director.

Robert entered into a cooperative agreement with the grand Maisons in the Place Vendôme, including Boucheron, Cartier, Charvet, Chaumet, Guerlain, Morgan, and the Ritz, in 1936, cementing the Maison's place in the Parisian luxury landscape. The cooperative's offices were located in Goyard’s headquarters at 233, Rue Saint-Honoré.

In 1998, long-time Goyard collector Jean-Michel Signoles bought the Maison. Without the backing of a leading group the Signoles family revived Goyard’s heritage and opened new boutiques in Europe, the Americas, and Asia.

Within a decade, Goyard was re-established as a beacon of elegance, craftsmanship, and exclusivity. Newly opened workshops in Carcassonnes demonstrated the label’s commitment to the next generation of craftsmanship.

To read our full history of Goyard, visit The Study or click here.