Founded by Jean Cassegrain in 1948, Longchamp represents timeless elegance and excellent craftsmanship with a distinct dose of contempoary cool masterfully infused by its visionary Creative Director Sophie Delafontaine, who is part of the brand with her brothers.
From its beginnings pioneering leather-covered tobacco pipes to eventually debuting women’s handbags in 1971, Longchamp has since then become one of France’s leading leather good makers. Beloved for its iconic Le Pliage and Le Roseau collections, a staple of preppy chic and French heritage, its family-owned spirit and independence makes it a quiet force in the industry.
On a recent trip to Dubai, Longchamp held an unforgettable evening along with renowned French chef Cyril Lignac to mark a celebration of savoir-faire at the latest hotspot, Bar de Prés. The evening saw some of the most inspiring and creative women such as Karen Wazen, Jessica Kahawaty, Hala Abdallah, Cynthia Samuel Bakri, who embody Longchamp’s empowering Parisian spirit in attendance.
Here, Emirates Woman sat down with Sophie to discuss about her creative influence, the resurgence of the Le Pliage bags, and the joys and challenges of translating a modern vision while preserving her grandfather’s legacy.
What are some of the key pillars that define Longchamp?
We are a family-run business so it’s my grandparents’ and now I am with my two brothers, who is our CEO, and Olivier, my older brother, who is in charge of the retail in the US. Now I’m happy to be working with the fourth generation. We are an independent family business, which I think makes a big difference nowadays because most of the other brands are part of the group.
We are a Parisian company – we’re born in Paris and most of our workshops are based in France. We have workshops all around the world and six in France with nearly a thousand people working in our production. We still have a very strong part of our production in France, which is very important for us, because they developed a very strong know-how from the beginning with my grandparents. Longchamp is based on a quality, timeless product, but also is very well known for creativity. The brand talks to very dynamic women who are confident and who embodies the Parisian spirit.
From L-R: Longchamp Creative Director Sophie Delafontaine, Juliette Poupard Delafontaine; Cyril Lignac, Jessica Kahawaty, Karen Wazen and Cynthia Samuel Bakri
What is your creative process like? Where do you get your inspiration and how important do you feel archive pieces are to your role now, and to the evolution of leather goods and the brand overall?
The brand is 76 years old and in the beginning was a tobacco store and in the 80s, my father and grandfather developed all the men’s leather goods, like luggage, wallet and then my father started to develop the ladies bag. More than 30 years ago we also developed the iconic Le Roseau. For me, it’s not an archive, because it has always been in the collection for 30 years and have never gone out. I play with it every season and I try to keep it really updated – in functionality, colour, material – to really fit the needs of the contemporary woman. So I really don’t play with the archive. I play with a live product that has been in the collection for a long time.
We’re seeing a resurgence in the popularity of the signature classic, the Le Pliage bags. What do you think is driving this marketability?
It’s a product that is really unpredictable, I would say. From the beginning, it has touched the young generation. There are a lot of iconic bags, but a bag that speaks to every young generation is something that is really incredible, because often when you are 15 or 20, you don’t want to look like your parents, so you find the opposite or something different and the Pliage have always stayed super desirable for all the new generations.
I think the success comes from playing with the Pliage every season – through collaboration, new shapes, materials, colours, and as I was saying, the idea is to have a strong base. I always try to fit the needs of the new generation, to keep it really super desirable for the new generation. So before we used to have big bags to put laptop documents, and now we have everything in the phone, so we need just a clutch. So I think it’s just to feel the needs, to feel the spirit of the generation.
The fashion industry is known for its collaborations. What makes Longchamp different and how do you discover creatives you like to work with?
In fact, in reality it’s my grandmother who started the first collaboration with an artist in the 70s. She was passionate by heart and she really transmitted her curiosity to me, this open mindedness and philosophy to discover and meet artists – and it’s really something we really love to do. Collaborations at Longchamp have never been for marketing purpose, but I would say passion purpose, meaning that all the artists we have collaborated with are artists who we truly love the work. We feel that in their work there is a common value, and that’s something we want to share with everyone. I think the success of the collaboration has always been that it’s an authentic in the relationship.
As someone deeply connected to the Longchamp legacy, how do you see the brand continuing to innovate and remain relevant while honoring its rich heritage and traditions?
We have a strong department of research innovation. In 76 years, if we didn’t innovate, we wouldn’t be here today. So it has always been part of my journey to create and innovate through research. Sometimes I’ve tried things that have not worked, but it’s part of the game. It’s trying to produce something that embodies our sustainability engagement. We are working a lot on innovative material to be more respectful for the environment, on traceability, to really concentrate on the CSR aspect. That, for me, is super important for the future.
Tell us more about the reopening of the store in Dubai Mall. What can one expect and how important is the Middle East market in the brand’s expansion plans?
You know, we already cover a lot of categories but we need to keep going on the development of the ready-to-wear, which, for example, here in this region, is not really present yet because we have done an incredible work in three, four years of having a new store with a great location and developing all the brand itself in the In the region, but the size of the store doesn’t allow us to really cover the whole categories. So maybe the next step will be to have a bigger space where we can scale and introduce these categories.The Middle East is a key market for us. It’s true that, of course, we are super strong in Europe, US, and Asia. But we also have a lot of customers from the Middle East. We have had an incredible development here. Being here for three days now, you see and feel the energy that is here, all the opportunities that are here, and I think we can do even much better, even if it’s already incredible.
We’re happy to see that leather is growing very fast here. Through the new Roseau that we relaunched in September, that has been super successful here. We also have the fishnet bag which is sold out everywhere. So it’s very funny because it’s quite eclectic. Here in Dubai, we have a strong local customer base, which is also very important for me. I know Dubai is a hub for tourists and expats, but I’m happy to have local customers also.
Swipe through the gallery below for a peek inside the Longchamp event in Dubai:
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