Louis Vuitton first introduced Damier canvas in 1888 to distinguish its luggage from imitators.
Damier, meaning “checkerboard” in French, uses a repeating geometric grid of alternating squares. The pattern appeared on Louis Vuitton trunks and luggage during a period when the company was trying to protect its designs from copying. Its straightforward checkerboard appearance made it visually distinctive without relying on the later LV initials.
The Damier pattern predates Louis Vuitton’s famous Monogram canvas, which was introduced in 1896 after the death of founder Louis Vuitton. Georges Vuitton developed the Monogram design partly as a tribute to his father and partly as another anti-counterfeiting device.
Modern Louis Vuitton collections include several Damier variations, including Damier Ebene and Damier Azur. These names describe different colour treatments rather than entirely unrelated patterns. A common mix-up is to call any Louis Vuitton printed canvas “Monogram”; the checkerboard design is specifically Damier, while the floral-and-initial pattern is Monogram.