READY PLAYER ONE
It turns 70 this year – a big deal in the attention-deficit fashion industry – but Longchamp is game to prove it can still surprise with the introduction of a Pre-Fall collection, and a tie-up you’d never expect. Creative director Sofia Delafontaine gives
At 70, Longchamp continues to surprise with the debut of a Pre-Fall collection and a tie-up nobody expected.
Pre-Fall means more (and more playful) options
“It gives us the opportunity to create an additional collection with a different story. It’s hard to express all our creativity with only two collections a year. The spirit of this collection (dubbed “Fall”) is different as we’re proposing pieces that may be worn before the more wintery looks hit stores, and I worked on it like a capsule collection so that I could be more playful. (Pieces include reversible bomber jackets that are satin on one side and denim on the other.) It’s important to always have new and different pieces in stores at all times of the year.”
Expect never-before-used techniques...
“The ‘tattooed’ version of the nude Le Pliage Cuir and the Hypnotic line both add femininity, as well as an unexpected edge. The motif on the former, for example, is made with a laser to give the impression of a real tattoo... and the result is incredible. As for Hypnotic, we designed a mini camera bag with an embroidered anemone or butterfly motif, and created padded wave patterns around it to further highlight it against the smooth lambskin leather. These are all designs or techniques we haven’t explored before.”
... and a new signature bag
“Longchamp women are 21stcentury Amazons. They own their femininity, and I was thinking about them when creating the new Amazone line of handbags (a messenger style in three sizes made of lamb or calfskin, and punctuated by a saddle buckle and sliding chain strap).”
Its next collaborator is Shayne Oliver
“Longchamp is positioned as a Parisian fashion luxury brand, so pairing up with someone as unexpected as Shayne, a New York designer who has shaped fashion from a streetwear point of view, opens the doors to a new kind of street luxury... We are both openminded and driven by the concept of movement, the energy of our cities, and the mix of cultures, so it quickly became evident that we would collaborate within the travel category. (In stores now, the range spans ready-to-wear, shoes and bags that see Oliver reinterpreting the brand’s signatures with his radical, street-influenced eye.)”
See the Le Pliage like never before
“The iconic Longchamp Le Pliage bag was the perfect canvas where Shayne was able to apply his creativity and add a new, innovative dimension. We received Shayne’s concepts and, working with our workshops, translated them into real-life products. His intention was to give another dimension to the Le Pliage’s proportions.”
The results of the tie-up are just insane
“The collaboration with Shayne is unexpected and gives a radical twist to what we do... If I really had to choose one must-have piece from the tie-up, I’d probably go with the piece that sees Shayne interpreting our iconic Le Pliage bag into a jacket. (Imagine a bomber with the bag’s leather flaps and handles flanking each sleeve.)”