HOUSE OF HERITAGE

At Louis Vuitton's atelier just outside Paris, craftsmanship is a way of life.

- Alice Cavanagh

To travel from the centre of Paris to Asnières-sur-Seine, about nine kilometres northwest, is to witness a cross section of the city's evolution: neoclassical monuments give way to the industrial suburb of Clichy, full of corporate giants and sustainable urbanism. From there, the Seine snakes its way north and traffic-strewn bridges take you over the Left Bank to the small commune, a hub of creation that has hummed away outside the city's periphery for the past 150 years.

In the mid to late 19th century, Asnières-sur-Seine's streets, lined with brick villas, became a refuge from city life for the burgeoning middle class. This was the appeal for a trunk maker named Louis Vuitton-the official packer and box maker for Empress Eugénie de Montijo, wife of Napoleon III-who built a workshop here in 1859 and established his empire of leather goods, helped by the advent of train travel and his ingenious courier trunks.