WORKSHOP - MALLE2LUXE PARIS°°

Sometimes the marks of time damage our dear trunks, some parts can be broken during their travels. And years later, we keep doing the same things to bring his objects back to life.

Our workshop works on the conservation, protection, restoration of heritage and enhancement of collections for museums and private collectors. 

Expert in Louis Vuitton ,  Goyard and Moynat trunks  ,   they no longer hold any secrets for us. 

Our goal is to recover the original appearance of the trunk before its last trip.

The work of the trunk-maker restorer requires perfect mastery of a wide range of skills. Our specialties come from the heritage of French know-how and are essential for an accomplished result.

We are  the only ones to be state graduates in traditional techniques . This knowledge is the  guarantee  of a restoration carried out in the rules of art.

State graduates, trained by companions, six years of teaching in the most rigorous traditional techniques  of woodworking  to acquire the most advanced skills in carpentry and cabinetmaking. 

With our experience in luxury interior design with our most demanding customers, we leave everything to devote ourselves to the restoration of old travel trunks.

We are trained in  leather work  in high-end upholstery with former craftsmen of the Maison  Hermès.

Gilbert Rotival , MOF ( Meilleur Ouvrier de France ) teaches us leather sheathing for the manufacture of high jewelry cases  and completes our knowledge   of luxury leather goods. 

Boilermaking to  shape brass  and solder it in the evening for adults and the work of the infinitely small in jewelry, jewelry and polishing of precious metals at the  prestigious Boulle school  to complete our training as Malletier.

We learn the  work of the fabric  from our upholsterer mother.

In addition to our activity of restoration and conservation of antiquity, we realize tailor-made:

• Jewelery boxes for fine  jewelry
• Boxes 
• Small  leather goods
• Trunks and suitcase fittings

It is a conversation that we have several times a week with novices or amateurs about the importance of restoring a trunk or not. Here are a few ways to become fully aware of a subject that is rarely discussed.

This expert article will help you see more clearly.

When we talk about the "restoration" of Louis Vuitton, Goyard , Moynat and Hermès collector's trunk , many people think of making it new !

You have to know how to qualify.

The verb  restore  means: 

Restore to its old state or to its original form.

Repair, renovate, restore in good condition (a work of art, a monument) respecting the original condition, the style. 

The act of keeping, keeping intact or in the same state.

The word restore therefore designates as well:

• Light work

Like a simple dusting or polishing of brass.

• Heavy work

Replacement of wood , replacement of destroyed brass part or repair of old restoration.

The answer is of course  YES  but under certain conditions. The main ones being: 

• That the canvas is original unvarnished, neither waxed nor repainted
• That the brasses are not brushed (or polished brushed)

• That the leathers are in perfect condition.

• That the restoration is carried out perfectly, respecting the rules of the art, inside as outside. 

Otherwise it will have the opposite effect. A bad restoration is detrimental to the value of a trunk . 

Now if the question is:

The answer is  NO , except for very rare models .

The price of a restoration is very important and it will be easier to sell the trunk cheaper as it is than more expensive, taking into account the price of the restoration.

Even if these objects are old, even if they have a certain charm to resemble  a ruin , like the end of an auspicious period, a bygone time. The more the object is degraded the more it becomes mysterious, and the imagination takes over reality.

For a collector, a museum , a heritage institution it is inconceivable to have a precious, luxury object, damaged by an inadequate restoration, dirty and dilapidated and therefore not in conformity with the origin!

The wreckage of an old car leaves one dreaming. 

But any collector likes clean, healthy cars where the chrome is not pricked by rust rather than a wrecked car in its own juice.

In a collective imagination, restoration is harmful. Whereas if it is well done, it can sublimate objects from the past.

And against all popular belief, restoration is essential for conservation by stopping degradation.

Catering is a taboo subject. As if the unrestored object was virgin and pure, as if the dust and dirt were more pure and authentic. While the dust degrades the pigments and oxidation degrades the conservation of the object a little more. As if the act of restoring it damaged his identity. 

In museums each object has been restored to its original state.

We are not trying to have a replica more beautiful than the origin, or a new object brought up to date with the finishes or colors of today's world.

The fantasy of the object in perfect state of conservation having undergone no restoration is indeed a legend.

Trunks restored in perfect condition are more sought after and therefore negotiate better than those in their "juice".

The myth which implies that a trunk in "its own juice" is rarer and more sought after by collectors is maintained by many dealers.

For only economic reasons they do not restore their trunks and offer trunks in their "juice" by making the customer believe that they have more value because no one has touched them. Other merchants entrust the work to "handymen" who botch the work and destroy the heritage.

Likewise, the brasses are poorly restored through ignorance of techniques and not for the sake of keeping some charm in an old trunk .

Catering is a fully-fledged, subtle job, requiring extremely advanced learning, knowledge and skills that cannot be improvised.

Malle2Luxe is committed for many years to the conservation, restoration and sale of collection of trunks within the rules of art and 

 knowledge  of  the craft  to the  French.

Our requirement is to  find the original appearance of the trunk before its last trip. Like a window on history.