OH NO!

That's what I said when I saw canvas cracking on my favorite Artsy.

What do I do?

What Are Louis Vuitton Canvas Cracks?

Louis Vuitton Monogram Canvas is probably the most iconic and recognizable print from Louis Vuitton. No wonder so many brand fans want this print exclusively in their collection. Unfortunately, this material is known to have some issues. One of them are cracks.

Cracks are canvas rips demonstrated on the above pic. You can barely see them when they begin but after some time they may become evident.

Why Is Louis Vuitton Canvas Cracking?

As with any other defect, there are a lot of reasons this defect may occur.

First of all, Louis Vuitton used different types of canvas through the years. Some of these types were rigid (mostly vintage canvas), newer canvases are more vulnerable and are likely to crack.

Second, cracks have to do something with the misuse of the bag as well as the purse shape. If the opening is too narrow and the purse is not vintage (Artsy, Metis Hobo), the purse is very likely to crack. However, there's not 100% guarantee it will crack or it will not crack.

Third, there are rumors that cracks are also related to the way you store your bag and clean it. Using chemicals when cleaning canvas may lead to its dryness which in its turn will lead to cracks.

Will LV Repair Cracked Canvas?

If you wonder if Louis Vuitton repairs cracked canvas, the answer is 'no'. The boutique can help to fix all other issues - glazing, torn vachetta, inside lining but they can't do anything at all about the canvas.

So what can be done?

1) Go to Louis Vuitton and talk to a sales assistant/manager

First of all, Louis Vuitton knows that some purses crack due to the low quality of the canvas material (note: not all the purses). They hold themselves responsible and are ready to either exchange your purse or give you the store credit.

There are three prerequisites though:

- The purse must be known as defective at LV

- You need to (in most cases must) have a receipt

- The purse needs to be less than 2 years

Let's find out if your crack is a known defect for Louis Vuitton. Probably the cracks are not your fault.

If you purchased the bag straight from the store, check the date code. If the bag is less than 2 years old, chances are you are eligible for a free replacement.

Louis Vuitton bags come with a warranty. If something happens within the 2 years (I guess the number varies from country to country but it's close to 2 years in most countries), they most probably will try to do their best to make you happy.

Some bag styles just have cracks and it's a known issue. For instance, the first batch of a well-known monogram Artsy released in 2009 is known to have cracks eventually, no matter how good you are at caring about your bag.

If it's a defect, they will either give you a new bag or offer a credit for the same value for you to pick another item.

If it's a defect but the bag is too old, they can't do anything about it.

The question we get a lot is this: Does Louis Vuitton offer some kind of SPA services? Check out this article to find out.

2) Fix the crack with cyanoacrylate glue

If it's only one or two cracks, here's what you can do.

- Buy any cyanoacrylate glue. It's a super strong glue.

- Take a pin.

- Take a drop of glue with the edge of the pin.

- Put the edge of the pin inside the crack.

- Stick the two sides of the bag together.

Here's what it looks like when it's repaired.

In the next posts, I'll show how you can fix a crack yourself - just like I did in this example.

3) Ask a cobbler to fix your bag's cracks

Too many cracks? Glue won't help you here.

Canvas is not leather but still, it can be fixed. In most cases, you just need to ask a cobbler to find a piece of leather similar in terms of color.

In this example, the cobbler took a piece of brown leather and used it as a trim for an Artsy. It now looks much better than the version with cracks.

Did you ever have a crack on your bag? What did you do? Share your experience in comments.

Was this blog post helpful?