70 years of luxury and savoir-faire

Kendall Jenner, Shayne Oliver and Lovi Poe for Longchamp

“We are a very Parisian brand and Shayne is a very New York designer, but we are linked by creativity and open-mindedness.

On its 70th year, the French accessible luxury brand Longchamp is stronger than ever. In September, it will debut at the New York Fashion Week runways with a full-scale show, while a few days later it will hold a grand celebration at the Opéra Garnier in Paris.

“In Paris, we will celebrate 70 years of luxury and savoir-faire, while in New York we will look ahead to the next 70 years,” says Marie-Laure Dubuisson, Global Communications and Marketing Director, in a statement.

The Philippines is one of 80 countries where Longchamp is present and we won’t be left behind in the festivities.

“Although the bigger celebrations for the brand will be held in New York and Paris, Rustan’s and Stores Specialists Inc. have prepared something special for the Filipino fans of the brand. We hope that followers and patrons of Longchamp will watch out for that, details of which we will announce in late August to early September,” says Dina Tantoco of Rustan’s, the brand’s local partner.

The brand was founded by Jean Cassegrain in 1948, named after a famous horse race track in Paris called Longchamp, as explained on its web site: “Just next door to it was an old mill that the founder of Longchamp called Cassegrain — which means ‘miller’ in French — used to pass in front of every day. The company soon found its name: it being only a short trot from the mill to the miller and onto the race track, itself named Longchamp or ‘long field’ the way was fore trod!”

From luxury leather-covered pipes, the company manufactured small leather goods until it launched its first women’s handbags in 1971.

The biggest innovation for the brand was its use of nylon for the bags. By 1993, Philippe Cassegrain designed the Le Pliage, which means “folding” in French, that became one of the world’s most popular handbags.

Recently, Longchamp unveiled its fall/winter 2018 collections in a special preview for the local press featuring the Le Pliage; the Mademoiselle; and its latest offering, the Amazone.

“The fall/winter collection is one of the most diverse we’ve seen from Longchamp yet. There’s a mixing and matching of different kinds of leather in various shades that would transcend trends and seasons. Longchamp’s leather bags are of exquisite French craftsmanship, featuring quality and luxurious materials that make for wonderful fashion investments,” Tantoco explains.

The brand enlisted Shayne Oliver, founder of the cult brand Hood By Air and who also designed a collection for Helmut Lang, to reinforce Longchamp’s relevance.

“We are a very Parisian brand and Shayne is a very New York designer, but we are linked by creativity and open-mindedness,” Sophie Delafontaine, the company’s artistic director and granddaughter of the founder said to vogue.com. “After all—it doesn’t make sense to collaborate with someone who’s just like you!”

According to Tantoco, Longchamp’s leather comes mainly from France, Italy and Uruguay. The company is very particular about how it selects the leather. It has treating modes and sorting criteria exclusive to the brand and its tanneries strictly respect environmental regulations.

“While the Le Pliage Cuir and Mademoiselle lines have strong fan bases around the world and in the Philippines, the newest handbag, Amazone, is what we are excited to bring to our discerning customers. It’s the equal mix of edge and sophistication and having Kendall Jenner as the face of the Amazone’s campaign makes it a definite must-have,” continues Tantoco.

Jenner, 22, is an ingenious choice to be the face of the Amazone, as the American is the most popular model on Instagram with 93.1 million followers (the next is Gigi Hadid with 42.1 million). Her short fashion film with Longchamp, The Encounter, has racked up more than four million views on her IG.

“When we were sitting in Montmartre, with the horses and the sunrise, I thought, ‘Is this really happening?’ It was amazing!” Jenner gushed on the brand’s site:

“In 2017, Forbes announced that Kendall was the highest-paid model in the world [displacing Gisele Bundchen, who was reigning since 2002], and for good reason. Her influence is simply unrivaled, especially in the fashion industry. Making Kendall the face of the Amazone is a strategic move to solidify Longchamp’s presence in the US and in the global market, where Kendall is adored. Perhaps this will finally break the stereotype of Longchamp being a conservative brand.”

With France emerging victorious at the 2018 World Cup, will the company honor its brethren in any way? “We have not received news about how Longchamp will pay tribute to the team. However, Longchamp has always created special collections for different occasions, like for the Year of the Horse collection in 2014, and of course, the iconic Eiffel Tower printed on the equally iconic Le Pliage. We are excited to see if they will create something special for this victory,” says Tantoco.

In one campaign shot, Jenner carries an Amazone Folk Hobo bag ($810), made of velvet leather with country-chic fringes. “It is very important for us to look forward,” adds Delafontaine. “Our aim is to show that Longchamp is about dynamism, individuality, creativity, authenticity — values we share with Kendall and the generation of millennials she connects with.”

A lot of bloggers and influencers from all over the world have been seen with the Amazone, and Tantoco thinks part of this is because of Jenner’s influence. In the Philippines, Lovi Poe has been seen showing love to Longchamp and particularly to the Amazone on her Instagram. The young actress carried a burgundy Amazone Hobo ($1,080), made of lambskin with vertical topstitching.

“The Longchamp woman is modern, dynamic, stylish, ever-evolving and much like the emblematic horse, shows no signs of slowing down,” Tantoco declares. “Kendall exemplifies these same qualities and we think that her love for the Amazone, coupled with the handbag’s impressive French design and quality, will make the Amazone extremely covetable.”

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