Au Départ

The Origins

Au Départ was founded in 1834 upon the advent of railway travel. In 1847, a shop trading under Au Départ selling luggage and travel goods shop opened at 7 boulevard Denain in Paris, opposite the Gare du Nord, a railway station inaugurated the year before on 14 June 1846.

Maison Bertin Frères

The shop Au Départ located Boulevard de Denain was acquired in 1871 by two brothers, Ernest (born in 1846) and Paul Bertin (born in 1854). Originally from the village of Daulaincourt in Haute-Marne, they had started by selling haberdashery on the Saint-Quentin market. They established the Maison Bertin Frères in 1871.

The boutique on Boulevard de Denain specialised in guns, ammunitions, travel, as well as hunting and fishing goods. Their travel section displayed many different types of trunks (namely postal trunks, rounded trunks, canteen trunks, wicker trunks, flat trunks, wooden trunks covered in a brown canvas, “anglaises” trunks made out of wicker and covered in leather, automobile trunks, etc.), leather suitcases, handbags and stocked vanity cases.

The Bertin Frères business flourished and a second shop, trading under Au Départ, was opened in Paris at 29, Avenue de l’Opéra in 1874. The boutique specialised in travel accessories and leather goods produced in the Belleville, Belleville workshops managed by the Bertin brothers. The brothers invented several related techniques which they were to patent, namely a new production technique for trunks and a new process to render hides and leather products completely waterproof.

Maisons Bertin Jeune et Bertin Fils

Ernest Bertin, who lived above the Boulevard de Denain boutique, dedicated himself to hunting accessories and established Bertin Fils. Paul Bertin, who for his part lived above the Avenue de l’Opéra boutique, established Bertin Jeune with his sons and continued to specialise in travel goods. The two Maisons Bertin Jeune and Bertin Fils coexisted. Upon Ernest Bertin’s death in 1905 the store on boulevard de Denain was sold and the Au Départ shop inside closed circa 1910. On its side, the boutique located on the avenue de l’Opéra continued to prosper.

Au Départ reached its heyday in the 1920s under the leadership of François Bertin, the son of Paul Bertin. In order to differentiate its products, Au Départ is to cover some of its products with a “damier” chequered canvas, offering an alternative to the monogram canvases proposed by the Maisons Louis Vuitton and Goyard. Au Départ is also to actively promote its wares by regularly placing advertisements in the magazine L’Illustration under the theme “A Beautiful Journey Begins”.

In 1928, Au Départ was selected with a hundred other luxury brands to feature in the very prestigious Pan-Annuaire du Luxe à Paris (a directory of Parisian luxury) under the direction of the designer Paul Poiret. The advertising featured was designed by French artist Yann-Benard Dyl.

Partnerships with great Parisian trunk-makers

On July 2, 1932, François Bertin on behalf of Au Départ created a new company, the Coopération Industrielle et Commerciale (“CIC”), in partnership with the directors of the four other great trunk-makers of the time (Louis Vuitton, Goyard, Moynat et Aux Etats-Unis) in the face of the economic crisis. The five “Maisons” joined forces, notably for the purchase of raw materials and travel items and for patent registrations. The cooperation was to last until 1935.

The Moynat Au Départ merger

After the death of François Bertin in 1964, his son Alain took over the business. To counter the drop in sales, a merger with the historical competitor on the Avenue de l’Opéra, the trunk-maker Moynat, was envisaged. In 1965, the two companies formally merged. The boutique at 29 Avenue de l’Opéra was closed down, and from then on the business trades under the double name “Moynat Au Départ” at Moynat’s historical boutique at No.1 Avenue de l’Opéra. Alain Bertin became chairman and CEO of the new company, whilst Maurice Coulembier was named director.

The Moynat-Au Départ shop ceased trading in 1976. The Moynat brand for its part was purchased by a holding of Bernard Arnault in 2010 and has been relaunched since December 2011 with the opening of a flagship store at 348, rue du Faubourg Saint Honoré in Paris.