Luxury brands in France: 15 French maisons and what they are known for
France is home to some of the world’s most recognisable luxury houses, each with its own specialty and creative codes. From Louis Vuitton’s travel trunks and Hermès leatherwork to Cartier jewelry, Guerlain perfume and Baccarat crystal, French luxury extends far beyond fashion alone.
This guide introduces 15 leading luxury brands in France, covering fashion, leather goods, jewelry, perfumery and art de vivre. For each maison, you’ll find its origins, main field and signature creations, making it easier to understand what sets these French names apart.
Planning a luxury purchase in Paris? Read Zapptax’s guide to shopping luxury goods in the city.
Key takeaways:
- France is home to iconic luxury houses such as Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Hermès, Dior and Cartier.
- Each maison has its own specialty, from leather goods and couture to jewelry, perfume and crystal.
- Visiting from outside the EU? You may be eligible for a VAT refund on qualifying purchases.
- Zapptax helps you combine eligible purchases from different stores and manage your refund from your phone.
What are the main luxury brands in France?
Some of these maisons date back more than two centuries, while Jacquemus was founded in 2009. Together, they show the range of French luxury, from specialist craftsmanship to global fashion houses.
| Brand | Founded | Main field | Best known for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Louis Vuitton | 1854 | Leather goods and fashion | Travel trunks and Monogram canvas |
| Chanel | 1910 | Fashion and beauty | Couture codes, handbags and N°5 |
| Hermès | 1837 | Leather goods | Leather craftsmanship and silk scarves |
| Dior | 1946 | Haute couture and fashion | The New Look and Lady Dior |
| Saint Laurent | 1961 | Fashion | Tailoring and Le Smoking |
| Celine | 1945 | Fashion and leather goods | Leather goods and ready-to-wear |
| Givenchy | 1952 | Fashion and couture | Couture and L’Interdit |
| Goyard | 1853 | Trunks and leather goods | Goyardine canvas and travel goods |
| Longchamp | 1948 | Leather goods | Le Pliage and travel accessories |
| Jacquemus | 2009 | Contemporary fashion | Ready-to-wear and handbags |
| Cartier | 1847 | Jewelry and watches | Tank, Panthère and fine jewelry |
| Van Cleef & Arpels | 1906 | High jewelry | Alhambra and precious-stone jewelry |
| Boucheron | 1858 | High jewelry | Quatre and Place Vendôme heritage |
| Guerlain | 1828 | Perfume and beauty | Shalimar and French perfumery |
| Baccarat | 1764 | Crystal and decorative arts | Crystal glassware and decorative objects |
15 iconic French luxury brands and what they are known for
Louis Vuitton: travel heritage and iconic leather goods
Louis Vuitton founded his Paris house in 1854 as a trunk-maker. Travel remains central to its identity through its historic trunks, Monogram canvas and leather bags. Today, Louis Vuitton also produces ready-to-wear, shoes, jewelry, watches and fragrance, making it considerably broader than specialist leather-goods houses.
Chanel: couture codes, handbags and fragrance
Gabrielle Chanel opened her first independent boutique in Paris in 1910. The maison developed instantly recognisable codes including tweed, quilted leather, chains and the camellia. The 2.55 handbag and Chanel N°5 remain signatures.
Hermès: leather craftsmanship and timeless design
Founded in Paris in 1837 as a harness workshop, Hermès grew from equestrian craftsmanship into leather goods, silk, fashion and other luxury objects. The Kelly and Birkin bags and the silk carré are among its most recognisable creations, while handcrafted leatherwork remains particularly important to the maison’s identity.
Dior: the New Look and Parisian haute couture
Christian Dior founded his house in Paris in 1946. Its first collection, presented the following year, introduced the silhouette that became known as the New Look. The Bar jacket remains a couture reference, while Lady Dior has become one of the maison’s best-known handbags alongside its fashion, jewelry, fragrance and beauty lines.
Before shopping at Dior, check our Dior VAT refund in France guide to easily claim tax back.
Saint Laurent: tailoring and the legacy of Le Smoking
Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé founded the house in 1961. Le Smoking, introduced during the 1960s, became a defining example of the designer’s approach to women’s tailoring. Saint Laurent also helped establish designer ready-to-wear through Rive Gauche, giving the maison a distinctly sharper fashion identity.
Celine: leather goods and refined ready-to-wear
Founded in Paris in 1945 by Céline and Richard Vipiana, Celine initially specialised in made-to-measure children’s shoes before expanding. Leather goods later became a central part of the maison, alongside ready-to-wear, shoes and accessories.
Givenchy: couture heritage and modern fashion
Hubert de Givenchy founded his Paris couture house in 1952. Its history is closely linked to Audrey Hepburn, who wore Givenchy designs both on and off screen. Fashion later expanded into accessories and fragrance, with L’Interdit becoming one of the maison’s best-known perfumes after its launch in 1957.
Goyard: trunk-making and selective distribution
Maison Goyard took its current name in 1853, although its trunk-making lineage traces back to Maison Martin in 1792. The house is known for trunks, travel accessories and its patterned Goyardine canvas. Compared with Louis Vuitton, it maintains a much more selective retail presence and does not distribute through authorised third-party retailers.
Buying Goyard in France? See our dedicated Goyard VAT refund in France guide for the steps to claim tax back.
Longchamp: accessible French leather goods
Jean Cassegrain founded Longchamp in Paris in 1948, originally producing leather-covered pipes before moving into luggage and handbags. Introduced in 1993, the foldable Le Pliage bag became its most recognisable design. Longchamp occupies a more accessible position than ultra-luxury leather houses while remaining a family-owned French leather-goods specialist.
Jacquemus: a contemporary vision of French fashion
Simon Porte Jacquemus founded the Paris-based fashion house in 2009, making it the youngest brand in this selection. It became known internationally for ready-to-wear, visual runway concepts and compact handbags such as Le Chiquito.
In 2025, L’Oréal acquired a minority stake to support the maison’s expansion into beauty while Jacquemus retained its independence.
Cartier: French jewelry and watchmaking icons
Founded in Paris in 1847, Cartier is known for both jewelry and watchmaking. Signatures include the Tank watch, first designed in 1917, and recurring Panthère creations. Its design language often relies on strong geometry and graphic forms, distinguishing it from the more nature-inspired motifs commonly associated with Van Cleef & Arpels.
Van Cleef & Arpels: poetic high jewelry
Van Cleef & Arpels was established at Place Vendôme in Paris in 1906. Nature, flowers, movement and precious stones recur throughout its high-jewelry vocabulary. Introduced in 1968, the four-leaf-clover-inspired Alhambra motif became its most recognisable collection.
Boucheron: architectural jewelry from Place Vendôme
In 1893, Boucheron became the first major jeweler to open a boutique on Place Vendôme. Today, collections such as Quatre combine graphic lines, contrasting textures and archival motifs, giving Boucheron a particularly architectural identity among France’s historic jewelry houses.
Guerlain: French perfume heritage
Pierre-François-Pascal Guerlain opened his first Paris boutique in 1828. Unlike fashion houses that later expanded into fragrance, Guerlain was built around perfumery and beauty from the start. Shalimar, created in 1925, remains one of its signature fragrances and a lasting reference in the history of French perfume.
Baccarat: French crystal and decorative arts
Founded in Lorraine in 1764, Baccarat represents the decorative-arts side of French luxury. Its historic manufacture produces crystal glassware, lighting, vases, jewelry and decorative objects. Baccarat states that its crystal is still made exclusively at its manufacture in the town of Baccarat, maintaining a direct link between the maison and its original craft.
What makes French luxury distinctive?
French luxury has grown around highly specialised crafts: leatherwork at Hermès, couture at Chanel and Dior, jewelry at Cartier and Boucheron, perfumery at Guerlain, and crystal-making at Baccarat.
Many of these skills are still passed on through dedicated training. Hermès opened its École Hermès des savoir-faire in 2021 to train future leather artisans. Cartier’s Jewelry Institute in Paris trains employees and apprentices, while Baccarat runs an in-house school at its historic crystal manufacture.
French maisons also build strong visual signatures that stay closely tied to their identity: Louis Vuitton’s Monogram, Chanel’s quilted leather and tweed, the Hermès silk carré, and Cartier’s Panthère.
Jacquemus shows how a younger French house can build its own visual language within this wider ecosystem of fashion and craftsmanship.
Are French luxury brands cheaper in France?
Often, yes, especially for visitors who can claim a VAT refund. The reason is not that France has lower taxes: most luxury goods are subject to 20% VAT. Instead, many French luxury houses use regional pricing, and their European prices can already be lower than prices abroad. French retail prices also include VAT, whereas US sales tax may be added on top of the advertised price.
For example, at the time of writing, the same Louis Vuitton Neverfull MM reference is priced at €1,550 in France versus $2,240 in the US.
Save even more with VAT refund and Zapptax
Using an indicative exchange rate of $1.16 per euro, the French price represents approximately $1,798, around 20% less than the US price before any VAT refund or US sales tax.
Eligible non-EU visitors can reduce the effective cost further through tax-free shopping.
For a €1,550 purchase subject to 20% VAT, Zapptax’s current 80% refund tier returns approximately €207. This brings the estimated cost to around €1,343, before any customs duties or taxes due in the traveler’s home country.
Use the VAT refund calculator to estimate your potential savings before you shop.
FAQ
What is the most famous French luxury brand?
There is no single measure of fame. In Kantar BrandZ’s 2025 ranking by brand value, Louis Vuitton ranked first among French brands at $111.9 billion, followed by Hermès and Chanel. Brand value should not be confused with revenue or consumer-awareness rankings.
What is the oldest French luxury house?
It depends on the category and definition used. Within our selection, Baccarat dates to 1764. Guerlain dates to 1828 and Hermès to 1837, while Goyard’s business lineage reaches back to Maison Martin in 1792 before the Goyard name appeared in 1853.
Are all products from French luxury brands made in France?
A maison’s French origin does not guarantee that every product is made domestically. Louis Vuitton states that its leather goods are made in France, Spain, Italy and the United States. Longchamp has French factories but also production sites and partner workshops in several other countries. Check the specific product rather than inferring origin from the brand name.
