Louis Vuitton Capucines BB

A bag named for an address

Louis Vuitton's own product copy states the story plainly: the Capucines was first launched in 2013 and is named for the Parisian street where Louis Vuitton first opened shop, in 1854. That street was the Rue Neuve-des-Capucines, beside the Place Vendome. One account gives the address as number 4 and notes that the neighborhood, close to the Rue Saint-Honore, was being reshaped at the time by Baron Haussmann's rebuilding of Paris.

Most sources agree on 2013; a 2021 review dates the release to the Autumn-Winter 2013 season, and one price guide says Fall 2013 in its text, though its summary table gives Fall 2012. The maker's own 2013 date is used on this page.

The Capucines arrived as something unusual for a house built on printed canvas: an all-leather bag where the Monogram is reduced to a single metal flower on the flap. Within eight years a reviewer was already calling it a certified Louis Vuitton classic, and the brand now presents it as a standalone story line on its website, worn by house ambassadors Hoyeon and Emma Stone.

The trunk maker behind the name

Louis Vuitton was born in 1821 in the Jura region of eastern France, into a family of artisans and farmers. His mother died when he was 10 and his father soon after; he left home in 1835, at 13, and made his way roughly 292 miles to Paris. From 1837 he apprenticed with a trunk maker named Marechal.

His skill at packing and building cases won him an appointment as personal trunk maker to Empress Eugenie, wife of Napoleon III. In 1854, at 33, he married Clemence-Emilie Parriaux and opened his own business on the Rue Neuve-des-Capucines. In 1858 he introduced flat-topped canvas trunks that could be stacked, a break from the rounded leather trunks of the day, and the business grew into a workshop at Asnieres-sur-Seine. He died there on February 27, 1892.

His son Georges launched the Monogram canvas in 1896. Two details of the Capucines nod to that family history: Louis Vuitton says its jewel-like handle mounts are inspired by historic trunks, and one fashion magazine notes that the brass nail heads on the handle rings recall the luggage made by Georges Vuitton. The four metal studs on the base are a trunk-maker's detail as well.

2013: a changing of the guard

The Capucines arrived in the year Louis Vuitton changed artistic leadership. Marc Jacobs, artistic director since 1997, left in 2013, and Nicolas Ghesquiere replaced him in November. The house had been part of LVMH since its 1987 merger with Moet Hennessy.

Outside fashion, 2013 was the year Pope Benedict XVI resigned and Pope Francis was elected, Edward Snowden disclosed classified US surveillance programs, and the Savar building collapse in Bangladesh killed more than 1,100 people.

How to read a Capucines BB in Galet

The current US Capucines BB measures 10.6 x 6.8 x 3.5 inches (length x height x width). It sits between the Mini, at 8.3 x 5.4 x 3.1 inches, and the MM, at 12.2 x 7.9 x 4.3 inches. A 2021 review listed the BB at 27 x 18 x 9 cm, essentially the same bag. A larger GM Souple has also been offered, and Louis Vuitton now offers a personalized MyCapucines in an exclusive size between the Mini and the BB, with a jewel-like chain and three customizable charms.

The construction is consistent. The body is full-grain Taurillon leather with Taurillon trim and a cowhide lining. The leather-wrapped LV Initials sit on the front, and a distinctive flap can be worn two ways: outside, showing a Monogram Flower, or tucked inside, showing the LV Initials. Inside are two compartments with one zipped pocket and one flat pocket. Four metal studs protect the base. There is a single top handle and a removable, adjustable strap with an 18.3-inch drop, extending to 21.7 inches.

This entry is the Galet colorway, which Louis Vuitton lists as Galet Gray, reference M24736, with gold-color hardware. Other current BB colors in the US line include Black (M24728), Quartz, Tan and Flint Grey. Louis Vuitton states that the reference may be made in France, Spain, Italy or the United States, and the house sources its leather from tanneries certified by the Leather Working Group.

Taurillon is a tanned, drum-treated calfskin that develops a patina over time. Recent bags carry a microchip in place of a printed date code; one resale listing for a Capucines MM described an NFC chip that had been scanned to verify it.

The bag as a canvas

In 2019 Louis Vuitton turned the Capucines over to artists. The first Artycapucines collection asked six of them, Sam Falls, Urs Fischer, Nicholas Hlobo, Alex Israel, Tschabalala Self and Jonas Wood, to reinterpret the bag. Falls embroidered it, Hlobo wove and reshaped it, Self collaged it, and Wood embroidered and dyed it. Israel added removable surfboard fins that double as a comb and a mirror. Fischer turned his fruit sculptures into dangling charms.

Each artist's bag was a numbered edition limited to 300 pieces and priced at $8,600, available from June 25, 2019. The bags were unveiled alongside Louis Vuitton X, a free exhibition at 468 North Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills that ran from June 28 to September 15, 2019. A second set of six artists followed in 2020.

The series placed the Capucines in a line of Vuitton artist projects that began, by one account, with Marc Jacobs's 2000 collaboration with Stephen Sprouse, the first time anyone was allowed to alter the Monogram.

Retail and resale

Louis Vuitton does not show a price for the Capucines BB online; the US product page says it is available only by phone and in stores. A published price list updated in 2026 gives US retail of $6,750 for the Capucines BB, $6,100 for the Mini and $7,450 for the MM, with the BB at 5,900 euros in Europe.

On the resale market the gap is wide. On October 1, 2026, a pre-owned Galet Taurillon Capucines BB in excellent condition, manufactured between 2021 and 2023, was listed at $3,650. The listing noted minor corner scuffing and scratches along the hardware. That is an asking price, not a sale.

The numbers

Dimensions

10.6 x 6.8 x 3.5 in (length x height x width); about 27 x 17.3 x 9 cm

Material

Full-grain Taurillon leather, Taurillon trim, cowhide lining

Hardware

Gold-color; four protective metal base studs

Strap drop

18.3 in, up to 21.7 in

Reference

M24736 (Galet Gray); M24728 (Black)

Production quantity

Not published for the standard line; Artycapucines editions were limited to 300 per artist

Timeline

1. 1821

   Louis Vuitton is born in the Jura region of France.

2. 1835

   Aged 13, Vuitton leaves home for Paris, about 292 miles away.

3. 1837

   Vuitton begins his apprenticeship with the trunk maker Marechal in Paris.

4. 1854

   Vuitton opens his own business on the Rue Neuve-des-Capucines near the Place Vendome.

5. 1858

   Vuitton introduces stackable flat-topped canvas trunks.

6. Feb 27, 1892

   Louis Vuitton dies at Asnieres-sur-Seine.

7. 1896

   Georges Vuitton launches the Monogram canvas, whose flower appears on the Capucines flap.

8. 2013

   The Capucines handbag is introduced, according to Louis Vuitton.

9. Nov 2013

   Nicolas Ghesquiere succeeds Marc Jacobs as artistic director of Louis Vuitton.

10. Jun 25, 2019

    The first Artycapucines bags by six artists go on sale, 300 numbered pieces each at $8,600.

11. Jun 28, 2019

    The Louis Vuitton X exhibition opens on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills.

12. 2020

    A second Artycapucines collection by six more artists is released.

13. Jun 2021

    A review calls the Capucines a certified Louis Vuitton classic and lists the BB at 27 x 18 x 9 cm.

14. Oct 1, 2026

    A pre-owned Galet Capucines BB, made 2021-2023, is listed at $3,650.

The world in 2013

• Feb 28, 2013

  Pope Benedict XVI resigns, the first pope to step down voluntarily since 1294.

• Mar 13, 2013

  Jorge Mario Bergoglio is elected Pope Francis.

• Apr 15, 2013

  Bombs at the Boston Marathon kill three people and injure 264.

• Apr 24, 2013

  The Savar building collapse in Bangladesh kills more than 1,100 people.

• Jun 6, 2013

  Edward Snowden's disclosures of US surveillance programs begin to appear.

• Jul 1, 2013

  Croatia becomes the 28th member of the European Union.

• Dec 5, 2013

  Nelson Mandela dies at 95.

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, Louis Vuitton Capucines BB is number 48 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 (40 here) is editorial: how much an object defines its field, not price alone.

Did you know

• The flap can be worn outside to show a Monogram Flower or tucked inside to show the leather-wrapped LV Initials.
• Louis Vuitton walked into Paris history as a 13-year-old who left the Jura in 1835 and traveled about 292 miles to the capital.
• Alex Israel's 2019 Artycapucines bag came with surfboard fins that double as a comb and a mirror.
• Each 2019 Artycapucines design was capped at 300 numbered pieces.
• The handle mounts are modeled on the fittings of historic Louis Vuitton trunks.
• Louis Vuitton does not list a price for the Capucines BB online; the US site says it is available only by phone and in stores.