This story was originally published in HYPEBEAST Magazine Issue 19: The Temporal Issue as "Cardinal Grace." Find out more here.
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HYPEBEAST Magazine Issue 19: The Temporal Issue in italics
Duke and Duchess of Windsor
The Duke and Duchess of Windsor were two of Goyard's Staunchest fans since their first purchase from the brand in 1939. They would amass one of the greatest collections of Goyard in the brand's history.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
An exercise in ingenuity and a showcase of Goyard's craftsanship - the writing desk is no bigger than a normal trunk when stowed, but expands to a comfortably sized desk capable of supporting a typewriter.
“Goyard has always been an independent, family-owned business, and has every intention of remaining so in the future.”
"As a rule, Goyard does not care at all about adapting to the times. Quite the contrary: it strives to be timeless."
"its products have found loyalists among a particular class of people forever in search of the unattainable – rappers."
The rarity of Goyard’s approach to the business of fashion is no doubt a result of its autonomy as a private company, freeing it from obligations to answer to shareholders and stock exchange quotations. This allows the label complete creative freedom and control over its public image. Maintaining a small level of operations has also preserved its allure in large part, hence Goyard’s precise product range in only four categories – travel goods, men's and women's handbags and accessories, pet accessories, and special orders. The company currently has no future plans to expand into more news cycle-friendly apparel collections. However, recent rumors of fashion conglomerates LVMH and Kering’s intentions to acquire Goyard were promptly shot down by the maison: “Goyard has always been an independent, family-owned business, and has every intention of remaining so in the future.”
More than other luxury labels tied to the fickle ebb and flow of fashion, Goyard seems unfazed by the future. Sixteen decades of perfecting its category have ensured the evergreen appeal of its products, freeing it from the constant struggle of renewing its brand image twice yearly. Yet while Goyard remains true to its core, the world around it has changed: the traditional retail landscape upended by digital mediums, a new force of consumerism from the East rewriting cultural boundaries. Despite these shifting sands, Goyard hews close as ever to its original mission, creating products with absolute discretion and the utmost grace for anyone who aspires to them, rapper or otherwise. “We believe in being authentic, true to ourselves, and the best version of ourselves we can possibly be,” says the company. “We like to think that Goyard is a state of mind, and as such, is for everyone.”
Maybe it’s also Goyard’s rejection of modern celebrity culture that appeals to rappers – the fact that, no matter how many Nike or adidas sponsorships they rack up, they will never be able to represent the label short of buying the products for themselves. While the list of contemporary celebrities that have patronized Goyard would make their peers “green with envy,” advertising such would be contrary to its guiding principle of discretion. “It’s also a question of respect for our customers, whether famous or unknown,” adds the label. Regardless, an increased profile in pop culture has translated into bigger returns for Goyard, as well as a wider clientele: “It is true that in some countries, and especially in the U.S., a new type of customer who perhaps used to feel that Goyard was not for them are not afraid anymore to step into our boutiques, and we are very happy about that.” To this end, Goyard’s offerings span a large price range, from the entry-level $300 USD Saint Sulpice card holder and the $2,430 USD Grand Bleu messenger bag so favored by A$AP Rocky, to the Palace trunk at $10,120 USD. Additional customization with hand-painted lines or initials begins at $165 USD. The company also designs trunks from scratch for the wealthiest of clients – a bespoke Gardening Trunk commissioned in 2015, for example, cost a cool $15,000 USD. Those with even deeper pockets and more exacting requirements can look to one of the more imaginative special orders in the label’s history for Sherlock Holmes creator Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who commissioned a Writing Trunk that could transform into a desk to allow him to write comfortably wherever he was in the world.
Goyard currently treads a fine line that hardly any other brands could pull off – seemingly above the vicious trend cycle that has disposed of many a celebrity designer, yet speaking to an adoring base of aspirants through its newfound digital channels. Perhaps this is why its products have found loyalists among a particular class of people forever in search of the unattainable – rappers. In certain circles in 2017, Goyard has become the luggage brand of choice for hip-hop’s newest breed of hip-hop artists such as A$AP Rocky, Travis Scott and Big Sean, although it’s been cited as far back as 2006 in Pharrell’s In My Mind album.
Goyard’s grand entry into hip-hop could be attributed to Kanye’s now-infamous appearance (since immortalized in an episode of South Park) outside the COMME des GARCONS show at Paris Fashion Week in 2009. Flanked by a garishly-dressed posse that included Virgil Abloh and Fonzworth Bentley, West sported a monogrammed Goyard briefcase that launched the little-known French label into a new cultural arena, entirely removed from its natural abode among the jet-set. Goyard has taken these new developments in stride, choosing instead to focus on its shared sense of craftsmanship with rappers. “[They are] wordsmiths; they play with words to create lyrics, just like the Goyard artisans use tools to craft trunks. Also, a lot of people feel that rappers are today’s dandies, and as such, just like the dandies of yesteryear, they long for the kind of exclusivity and sophistication Goyard items are renowned for.”
However, recent years have seen Goyard take on new zeal in its push for global expansion. Although Goyard has no e-commerce presence, it has added a dozen boutiques in Europe, the Americas and Asia since 2013. Its online presence has steadily expanded from a basic website to Facebook, Instagram and YouTube, the latter on which Goyard debuted its first fashion film in 2012. Following the world’s gaze, Goyard has also established a foothold in China with boutiques in Beijing and Shanghai, recent forays into WeChat and Weibo, and a simplified Chinese version of its website – allowing it to capitalize on an increasingly fashion-savvy Chinese middle class who have tired of the relative accessibility of Prada and Chanel.
Why is the elusive label finally diving into the nitty-gritty of social media engagement, and why now? “It’s just common sense: one cannot run if one cannot walk in the first place,” Goyard explains matter-of-factly, before drawing comparison with a historical precedent. “Back in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, under [second-generation owner] Edmond Goyard’s helm, Goyard was renowned for the inventiveness of its advertising campaigns. Being on Instagram and YouTube just seemed to us like the perfect way to revisit and reconnect with the strong and bold visual identity that is such an integral part of our DNA as a brand. As a rule, Goyard does not care at all about adapting to the times. Quite the contrary: it strives to be timeless.”
In the two decades since, Signoles has nursed Goyard back to rude health, first by instating his two sons in creative positions to relay his vision, then by setting up a new artisanal workshop in the southwestern French town of Carcassonne where a fresh cohort of craftsmen could be trained to perfect and preserve Goyard’s time-worn techniques. Renewed emphasis was placed on the brand’s customization services – the most popular options being the customer’s initials or colorful stripes hand-painted onto the maison’s emblematic Goyardine material – as well as a new spectrum of colorways which saw the introduction of white, pink and blue to Goyard’s traditionally dark palette. The numbers justified this respectful rejuvenation of the house: regulatory filings with the Paris Commercial Court in 2013 showed an annual revenue of €41.1 million EUR, up from €1.14 million EUR in 2000; while profits increased from €18,000 EUR to €12.8 million EUR over the same period.
Unlike fellow Parisian brand Louis Vuitton – which was founded just one year prior in 1854 and has become the toast of the wider world – Goyard was known as fashion’s best-kept secret for much of its lifetime, consciously avoiding worldwide fame and fortune for a decidedly more subdued trajectory. The 164-year-old label (or 225 years old in its previous incarnation as Maison Martin, trunk-maker to the French aristocracy) remained in the Goyard family for five generations, attracting clientele such as Cristobal Balenciaga, Coco Chanel, Marilyn Monroe and Pablo Picasso, in addition to a roster of Rockefellers, Romanovs and Grimaldis. Its emblematic Goyardine pattern – comprised of interlocking Ys taken from Goyard’s middle letter, and piled dots representing the log-driving history of the Goyard family – became a fixture to be found in the wake of luminaries on both sides of the Atlantic. However, by the ‘90s, Goyard withered to a shadow of its former self as a result of apathy at the hands of its fifth-generation owner. When Jean-Michel Signoles, a French businessman and avid Goyard collector, finally acquired the right to buy the label in 1998 after years of negotiations, he rather generously described it to The New York Times in 2009 as “a sleeping beauty.” The label was making only €500,000 EUR a year, its rue
Saint-Honore flagship in Paris staffed by a single salesman.
“Luxury is a dream, and revealing too much of what goes on behind the scenes would spoil the magic.” So began our first correspondences with Goyard, one of the most enigmatic luxury houses that the world has known. The spokesperson was adamant that Goyard be referred to as a singular entity, as any individual personality would distract from the achievements of the maison as a whole. They had a very good point. Goyard rarely rings a bell to outsiders, never mind its inner workings – to this day, the company is famously tight-lipped about giving interviews to the media, has never been helmed by any celebrity designers, and eschews traditional advertising. All this mystery only makes the label’s goods more desirable to those in the know, demarcating an insider’s club within the league of luxury French brands, but Goyard is quick to decry any attempts at secrecy. “The word ‘secrecy’ suggests something hidden or concealed, and we have nothing to hide, whereas ‘discretion’ suggests the ability to act in a quiet and dignified way,” explains the label. “We believe that whispering softly in someone’s ears is not only more elegant, but also much more efficient than screaming at the top of one’s lungs.”
The elusive French label talks to HYPEBEAST Magazine in a
rare interview.
