Goyard Artois MM

The little brother of the Saint Louis

Goyard's best-known bag is the Saint Louis, a light, unlined, open-top tote of coated canvas, first dreamed up in the 1930s as a beach bag and named for King Louis IX of France, known as Saint Louis. The Artois takes the same silhouette and makes it secure. Goyard calls it 'a nod to our emblematic Saint Louis bag in a structured and secure version,' with four leather corners and a zip closure.

The name continues the family joke. Robert I, Count of Artois, was Louis IX's brother, 'so the Artois bag is the little brother to our emblematic Saint Louis bag,' in Goyard's words. Another Goyard tote, the reversible Anjou, takes its name from a third brother, the Duke of Anjou.

In practice the differences are about structure. The Saint Louis is flexible enough to fold nearly flat and comes with a removable pouch; the Artois holds its shape, closes with a zipper and has a floating inside pocket instead of a pouch. Goyard makes it in PM, MM and GM sizes.

From packers to trunk makers

Goyard's roots go back to 1792, when Pierre-Francois Martin opened Maison Martin in Paris, a box-making, trunk-making and packing business that became official purveyor to the Duchess of Berry. Martin gave the business as a dowry to his ward, Pauline Moutat, on her marriage to his employee Louis-Henri Morel. In 1845 Morel hired a 17-year-old apprentice, Francois Goyard. When Morel died suddenly in 1852, Goyard took over; the house dates its founding to 1853.

His son Edmond Goyard, who took charge on April 1, 1885, made the name international. He opened branches in Monte Carlo, Biarritz and Bordeaux and offices in New York and London, built products for automobiles, launched a line of accessories for dogs, cats and even monkeys, and exhibited at the 1900 World Exposition in Paris. A letterhead of June 24, 1891, already showed the arms of the British royal family, the Russian imperial family and the Great Seal of the United States.

Edmond's son Robert ran the house from 1937 to 1979 and helped found the Comite Vendome, a group of luxury businesses around Place Vendome. In 1998 the family sold to Jean-Michel Signoles, a collector who had bought his first vintage Goyard trunk in a Paris antique shop in 1974. Without the backing of a luxury group, he built new workshops in Carcassonne and opened boutiques across Europe, the Americas and Asia.

The Goyardine canvas

The Artois is made of Goyardine, the house's coated canvas. Goyard dates its creation by Edmond Goyard to 1892; one encyclopedia says it debuted at the 1900 World Exposition, while also describing 2002 as 110 years after its creation. The base is a cloth of hemp, linen and cotton, and the pattern was originally applied as a ground color followed by three layers of etched color, so the plain weave shows through a slightly raised dot pattern that is hard to counterfeit.

The pattern tells the family story. The Goyards came from Clamecy in Burgundy, where the men worked as log drivers floating firewood to Paris. The dots recall those stacked logs and form three chevrons arranged as a Y, the central letter of the Goyard name. Edmond Goyard signed the canvas with his name, which the house says made him the first Paris trunk maker to do so.

The historic canvas was black. In 2002 the Signoles family added twelve new colors, and black-tan, the combination of this entry, is now one of the standard canvas colors alongside black, red, orange, yellow, green, sky blue, navy, burgundy, white and gray. Owners can have initials, stripes and other motifs hand-painted onto the canvas by the house's artisans, a practice Goyard calls marquage.

How to identify an Artois MM

Goyard lists the Artois MM at 50 cm long, 30 cm high and 17 cm wide, weighing 600 g, with handles that rise 25 cm. The materials are Goyardine canvas and Chevroches calfskin, with a linen and cotton interior and palladium hardware. Key features are the zip closure, the floating inside pocket and the four leather corners. It is made in France.

Because the tote tapers, measurements taken from the base come out smaller: one pre-owned black and tan Artois MM was listed at 14.5 inches long, 11.5 inches high and 6.3 inches deep, with a 10-inch handle drop.

The zip is the quickest way to tell an Artois from a Saint Louis or an Anjou, which are open at the top. The leather corners and the inside pocket in place of a removable pouch are the other giveaways.

On the resale market

Goyard keeps distribution limited and branding discreet, and its totes trade actively on the secondary market. One guide puts typical resale prices for Anjou and Artois totes at about $3,000 to $5,500, above the $2,000 to $3,000 typical for the Saint Louis, with limited editions, unusual colors and personalization able to command more. At retail, it places the Artois between the Saint Louis and the leather-backed Anjou.

In October 2026 a pre-owned black and tan Artois MM in excellent condition, showing light wear, minor corner wear and faint interior wear, was listed at $3,300 by a U.S. dealer. Seasonal colors, such as a limited turquoise released in 2024, add to the range collectors look for.

The numbers

Dimensions

50 cm long x 30 cm high x 17 cm wide (Goyard); 14.5 x 11.5 x 6.3 in measured at the base on one example

Weight

600 g

Handle height

25 cm

Material

Goyardine canvas (hemp, linen and cotton base) and Chevroches calfskin; linen and cotton interior

Hardware

Palladium

Closure

Zip; floating inside pocket; four leather corners

Made in

France

Production quantity

Not published

Timeline

1. 1792

   Pierre-Francois Martin founds Maison Martin in Paris.

2. 1845

   Louis-Henri Morel hires 17-year-old Francois Goyard as an apprentice.

3. 1852

   Morel dies; Francois Goyard takes over the business.

4. 1853

   The house's official founding date as Goyard.

5. Apr 1, 1885

   Edmond Goyard becomes head of the house, renamed E. Goyard Aine.

6. 1892

   Edmond Goyard creates the Goyardine canvas, by the house's account.

7. 1900

   Goyard exhibits at the World Exposition in Paris.

8. 1937

   Robert Goyard takes charge, running the house until 1979.

9. 1939

   The Duke and Duchess of Windsor open their Goyard account.

10. Nov 24, 1965

    Robert Goyard patents a woven canvas of chevrons and stripes.

11. 1972

    Karl Lagerfeld opens a Goyard account, kept until his death in 2019.

12. 1998

    Jean-Michel Signoles buys the house from the Goyard family.

13. 2002

    Goyardine gains twelve new colors beyond the historic black.

14. 2008

    Goyard opens its 'Le Chic du Chien' pet boutique at 352 rue Saint-Honore.

15. 2024

    A limited turquoise edition joins the Goyard tote range.

16. Oct 3, 2026

    A pre-owned black and tan Artois MM is listed at $3,300.

The world in 1832

• 1832

  A cholera epidemic hits Clamecy; the Goyard family moves to Paris.

• 1900

  Paris hosts the World Exposition, where Goyard exhibits.

• 1915

  Goyard shows at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco.

• 1925

  Goyard receives an honorary degree at the Paris exposition of decorative arts.

• Dec 9, 1936

  The Place Vendome Association, later the Comite Vendome, is founded.

• 1974

  Jean-Michel Signoles buys his first vintage Goyard trunk in a Paris antique shop.

• 1986

  The Duchess of Windsor dies, closing her Goyard account after 47 years.

Price record

This is an asking price, not a sale. It is what a seller wanted on the date shown. Asking prices often sit above what buyers pay, but an ask is not a ceiling: a sale can land on either side of it. It is not a value.

By reference price, Goyard Artois MM is number 53 of 100 in the handbags entries of the FLOAT 100. 19 of those 100 rest on a realized sale; the rest carry an asking price or a guide value, and each page says which. Rank within the FLOAT 100 itself (71 here) is editorial: how much an object defines its field, not price alone.

Did you know

• The Artois is named for Saint Louis's brother, making it the 'little brother' of the Saint Louis tote.
• The dots on Goyardine recall stacked logs: the Goyard men of Clamecy were log drivers.
• The three chevrons in the pattern form a Y, the middle letter of Goyard.
• Goyard's Belle Epoque pet line included accessories for monkeys.
• Karl Lagerfeld held a Goyard account from 1972 until his death in 2019.
• The Duke and Duchess of Windsor's Goyard account stayed open for 47 years.