Brand Spotlight: Longchamp

Just as many of the other French fashion houses, Longchamp was born from a family’s knack for savoir-fair. In fact, the Longchamp brand dates back all the way to 1949 in Paris, France. It all started with Phillippe Cassegrain’s father, Jean, who founded Longchamp when he was just 11 years old.

Since it’s inception, the Longchamp brand built it’s empire by creating luxury leather goods, and to this day can be defined by four words; creation, quality, work and service.

It was way back in 1948 that the iconic logo now synonymous with the brand, the movement of a galloping horse, was created for the brand by Turenne Chevallerea. The symbol is a identifier of elegance and gives rise to what would eventually become the emblem of the maison.

In the years following the Cassegrain family established Longchamp’s roots in the second arrondissment of Paris, boulevard Poissonnière to be exact. It was actually in the 1960’s where Longchamp really found it’s strides by entering, then soon dominating, the luxury luggage market. Thanks to setting up a store in one of France’s first airports, Longchamp soon became the travel bag of choice for the world’s elite.

A few decades later came 1993, and the design that truly propelled Longchamp as a household name and a bag that will forever be synonymous with the brand. ‘Le Pliage’ translating as ‘to fold’ from French, was originally inspired by origami and now stands as one of the most popular bags in the world.

Easily identifiable by the classic Longchamp brown leather handles, snap buttons and the iconic logo, Le Pliage features a canvas body that can be folded up to be surprisingly compact. Today the bag is available in a plethora of shapes like totes, backpacks and wallets, a rainbow of colourways as well as a blank canvas of numerous artist collaborations over the years.