Louis Vuitton vs. Gucci: Which Is More Expensive? - Luxury Viewer (2024)

Louis Vuitton and Gucci are some of the most well-known luxury brands in the world. They are also the most valuable luxury fashion brands in the world, but which one is more expensive?

Both Louis Vuitton and Gucci offer a wide range of luxury items, though arguably it is useful to focus on bags and small accessories as a comparison since both brands are known for these categories. In general, Louis Vuitton is more expensive than Gucci when it comes to bags.

Both brands are popular luxury fashion brands but Louis Vuitton has a more established reputation with a sense of timeless style and premium quality that elevates its offerings (and respective price tags) over Gucci’s pieces.

Behind the Louis Vuitton brand

Louis Vuitton started out as an apprentice trunk maker in Paris. He was just 16 years old when he began his apprenticeship but soon became a valued craftsman at the atelier of Monsieur Maréchal.

Vuitton honed his skills for 17 years at the atelier before opening his own workshop in Paris in 1854. Vuitton’s success led to opening an atelier in Asnières in 1859. Over the decades the atelier was expanded and craftsmen still produce leather goods and special orders in the atelier to this day.

Louis Vuitton’s iconic Monogram canvas was created in 1896 by Georges Louis Vuitton as a thoughtful tribute to his father. The Monogram canvas featured across travel pieces that had previously used leather and canvas and developed a reputation for excellence as well as rarity.

Nowadays Louis Vuitton offers a range of luxury items including clothing, shoes, jewelry, and accessories, with its bags and small leather goods arguably some of its most popular pieces.

Behind the Gucci brand

The Gucci brand was founded in 1921 in Florence by Guccio Gucci. The brand initially started out making luggage and luxury travel pieces but today offers a range of luxury items such as clothing, footwear, bags and small accessories, and jewelry.

The brand’s rocky reputation in the ‘80s began to transition to a more sleek, luxurious and at times daring reputation when Tom Ford was brought in as a designer in 1990. When Ford became Creative Director, he steered Gucci back to its former glory and reestablished it as a premium and exciting luxury brand.

After Tom Ford left the role, Frida Giannini took over from 2006 to 2014 before Alessandro Michele was appointed Creative Director in 2015. The Gucci brand had again begun to stagnate and Michele drastically altered its reputation, attracting a more millennial consumer audience and creating record sales.

Comparing luxury bags

Since both brands offer a range of luxury pieces but are both well-known for their bags, it can be useful to compare their bag offerings to get a general sense of which brand is more expensive. Both brands offer premium bags at premium prices, though Gucci’s small bags usually start at around $700 while Louis Vuitton’s small bags usually cost over $1,000.

Both brands also use exotic materials in some of their bags such as crocodile, snakeskin, and lizard, with these pieces tending to cost the most. Louis Vuitton offers several bags over $30,000 that use exotic materials including a $36,500 bag featuring crocodile, while Gucci sells a $34,000 bag that features crocodile.

History and reputation

Louis Vuitton has a more established reputation than Gucci, which is not surprising considering the brand is almost seven decades older. Louis Vuitton has maintained a reputation for enduring, timeless style and quality, while Gucci is known as an innovative but at times controversial brand whose reputation has altered over the years to target various consumer groups, from the sultry and sleek styles of the Tom Ford era to the more quirky and playful offerings from Michele.

Louis Vuitton’s well-established reputation for timeless style and quality lends its offerings a slightly elevated sense of value compared to Gucci products, though both brands’ pieces are undeniably covetable luxury items.

Versatility and quality

Both brands are known for offering high-quality pieces but Louis Vuitton tends to rank higher in terms of overall quality and attention to detail. Additionally, Louis Vuitton bags tend to be more versatile in their styling and can adapt to a variety of situations.

Louis Vuitton’s bags offer a slightly more formal, sophisticated style compared to Gucci’s slightly edgier and less subtle styles. This makes Louis Vuitton bags in general a more flexible wardrobe piece than Gucci bags.

Louis Vuitton has a reputation for never discounting its products for the general public. It has maintained careful control over the amount of stock available and if there is excess stock, it is never sold at a discount but rather taken off the market, thereby maintaining a sense of exclusivity around its pieces.