Delvaux

founded by

Charles Delvaux

belongs to

Christian Salez

about

Founded in 1829 by Charles Delvaux, the House of Delvaux quickly gained popularity amongst those in the know about style. In 1883 the brand became a warrant holder of the Court of Belgium. The company became the first to patent a model—the Edison trunk—in 1898. Encouraged by its success, the brand expanded to include collections of luggage, boxes, suitcases and more. At the start of the 20th century, the fashion house began offering ladies’ handbags.

In 1933, Franz Schwennicke made his mark by introducing the concept of seasonality into leather goods. His wife Solange succeeded him in 1970 and it was under her leadership that the House of Delvaux’s reputation expanded worldwide.

From 1970 onwards, the brand firmly established itself throughout Europe as a trendsetter. It also began to grow in popularity in lands as far away as Japan, positioning itself as the Brussels brand at the forefront of leather goods.

So well-known and popular is the brand today that it offers studio tours of its Brussels headquarters and has its own museum—the Delvaux Museum.

The development of House of Delvaux’s creativity was driven on by Solange’s exceptional charisma. In 1994, Franz and Solange’s oldest son Francois became Executive Chairman. Since 2007, CEO Christian Salez has run Delvaux with him.

Delvaux uses only the finest leather in its creations and of this leather, only the best grain is used. The brand’s craftsmen expertise is not only visible in their choice of leather, but also in the cut. Most of the leathers the brand uses are from young calves but it also uses exotic skins such as alligator, ostrich, lizard and salmon.