At the beginning of the 20th century, the maker of the most stylish and practical custom luggage in Paris was not Louis Vuitton or Goyard, but Pauline Moynat. The only prominent female practitioner of the era, Moynat created distinctively curvaceous bags and witty conceptual pieces, such as a round trunk designed to hold a spare tire that could also, in a pinch, be filled with water to serve as a bathtub. She founded her business, Moynat, in 1849, and by 1854 she owned the patent for canvas coated with gutta-p…