Tzenkoff

A Tender Tome of Art and Heart by Suzy Menkes published in the International Herald Tribune

A pair of white-gloved hands opens the mini-trunk and lifts, with the utmost tenderness, an object swaddled inside. What is this hidden treasure about to be revealed? The case has the chevron pattern that the cognoscenti would recognize as Goyard, the luggage maker, whose trunks stand like sentinels around the walls of its Paris store. Is it one of the house’s playful dog bowls, a luxury pet accessory that the French company first produced in 1890? Or maybe this package is the brand new Goyard handbag, a variation on the zippered cat bag that stylish women have been buying not for their kittens, but for themselves?

But this object is nothing less than a bible of luxury — not so much a book as a work of art and heart.

The book includes the history of the Goyard family — the achievements during the Paris Expo Universelle in 1900 and the creation of the noble facade of the Paris store. But it is more generally about the art of travel and its blossoming in the 20th century from early trains to grand hotels.

You cannot, will not and should not read this delicately created tome on a Kindle or an Ipad. For every piece of its construction, over a period of seven years, is an ode to artisans: handmade paper cajoled from the rare remaining manufacturers in France; and depth of print from traditional technique.

Its creator is the art director Pierre Tzenkoff. But his artefact — offered personally and privately to clients in a limited edition of 233 — was made in conjunction with Goyard’s owner, Jean-Michel Signoles, who signed off on the project and was immersed in the book’s decade of preparation.

As the pages turn, with their deep-grain photographs and written passages, some are blank, except for subtle intaglio plate marks. In their natural whiteness, produced with a 500-year-old technique of hemp lightened with the petals of a desert flower, the hand-cut pages resonate with craftsmanship. They offer the possibility of personalized heraldic engraving, still produced by the French printer Devambez, along with traditional letterpress printing.

“The book is about sight, sound, smell, touch,” says Mr. Tzenkoff. “It was important to communicate an emotion in the paper itself. The same touch can be found on the trunk as on the paper. Its beauty appeals to our senses permanently.”

A faint wood pattern — referring to the Goyard family’s ancient origins as loggers — has a historic resonance. And the book’s creator explains how he dragged old techniques out of aging men, who were reminded of bookbinding back in the 1930s.

The defining image of Goyard’s wood-framed trunks are the brightly-colored bands and the discreet signature “Goyard St-Honoré” worked in the pattern. Clients choose their own combinations of stripes and numbers to give them that personal identity that defines contemporary luxury.

Even if the soul of the luggage is in the craft, why create a book that was longer in the making than the trunks themselves?

The time frame tells the story: In a world of fast fashion, this approach is about slow, measured beauty.(…)