Following a difficult relationship with his adoptive stepmother, Vuitton left his home in Jura (department), in Franche-Comté in the spring of 1835, at the age of 13.

Arriving in 1837, in the middle of the Industrial Revolution, he apprenticed under Monsieur Marechal, a successful trunk maker and packer.

Within a few years, Vuitton gained a reputation amongst Paris' more fashionable class as one of the city's premier practitioners of the craft.

Vuitton rebuilt immediately, erecting a new shop at 1 Rue Scribe, next to a prestigious jockey club in the heart of Paris.

In 1872, Vuitton introduced a new line, featuring beige monogrammed designs with a red stripe that would remain a signature of his brand long after he died in 1892 due to a severe and aggressive cancer in his brain (glioblastoma).