Authenticate Louis Vuitton Keepall
The soft-sided travel bag, and the model where the canvas cut is most visible.
Introduced 1930Paris4 references
Like the Speedy, the Keepall is cut so that one length of canvas runs the length of the bag, which puts the monogram inverted on one face. On a piece this large the alignment is easy to read from a photograph, and it is the check to make before any other.
The leather ends of a Keepall — the two round side panels and the base trim — take a great deal of wear, and their patina should be consistent with the handles. A Keepall is a travel bag; a genuinely used one shows scuffing at the base corners and darkening where hands and shoulders meet it.
The zipper runs almost the full length of the bag and is the part a counterfeit most often gets wrong. It should run in one motion, with two pulls that meet without forcing, on a tape that is stitched flat rather than puckered.
Keepall 45 · Keepall 50 · Keepall 55 · Keepall Bandoulière
Establish which of these you are holding before judging it. A genuine piece read against another reference's rules will look wrong when it is not.
What a Keepall does on the secondary market
The 50 and 55 in monogram are the working sizes and trade steadily; the 45 is the size the fashion market pays for and carries a premium. Bandoulière versions with their original strap sit above the strapless equivalent.
An orientation for honest, unrestored condition — never an appraisal, and never a quotation.
Questions we are asked
- Should the monogram be upside down on a Keepall?
- On one face, yes. The bag is cut so a single length of canvas runs its length, which necessarily inverts the monogram on one side. Both faces reading the right way up is a counterfeit indicator.
- How should a used Keepall's leather look?
- Consistent with the handles. The round side panels and base trim take heavy wear on a travel bag, so a genuinely used Keepall shows scuffing at the base corners and darkening where hands and shoulders meet it.
Lovenhall BagRead the handbag itself
The checks tell you how it was made. The instrument tells you what it appears to be, and roughly what its kind fetches.