Louis Vuitton introduced the checked pattern called Damier in 1888. The French word damier refers to a checkerboard, an apt name for the alternating-square design.
The pattern was created during the company’s early effort to protect its products from imitation. Counterfeiters were copying Louis Vuitton’s earlier canvas designs, so a distinctive repeating check offered both a recognizable identity and a new layer of visual differentiation. The original Damier canvas carried wording equivalent to “L. Vuitton registered trademark.”
Damier is not the same as Monogram canvas, which appeared later, in 1896. Monogram uses the LV initials alongside quatrefoils and flowers, whereas Damier is built from a grid of contrasting squares. Vernis is a glossy leather finish, and Epi is a textured leather style, so neither describes the 1888 checked canvas.
The best-known modern variants include Damier Ebene, with brown tones, and Damier Azur, which uses a lighter white-and-blue palette. Both preserve the essential checkerboard idea.