Founded by in 1948 by Jean Cassegrain in 1948, Longchamp is still owned and managed by the Cassegrain family and remains a family business which adds a dose of French chic and style to its bags, shoes, ready-to-wear and other accessories.
Since then the House has remained in family hands, allowing for a clarity of direction and appreciation of heritage that makes the brand special across the generations. That heritage is also rooted in the fact that this is a French house – with all of the elegance and romance that the nationality evokes.
At the heart of the brand sits craftsmanship and therefore luxury. Highly skilled artisans work in the house’s eight workshops, creating stylish bags such as Le Pliage Cuir®, Balzane and the LM Cuir. Each bag can require up to 250 separate processes and most of these are undertaken by hand.
A heritage of leatherworking and inspiring innovation come together in iconic products such as the Le Pliage®, created in 1993 and revisited in 2012 in the luxurious Le Pliage® Cuir, which is already selling beyond it’s original targets. The iconic foldable design in brightly colored canvas with leather trim is probably the world’s best-selling bag, with more than 26 million sold to date. That innovation is also seen in the launch of a shoe collection in 2012 and the Ready to Wear collections that were first seen in 2006.
Creativity sits alongside innovation at Longchamp, but is further enhanced by collaborations with artists, designers and celebrities such as Tracey Emin, and Mary Katrantzou, as well as the supermodel Kate Moss, who works with the house on the design of the highly successful Gloucester range.
The Longchamp brand is described in the phrase, optimistic luxury. It is a brand that is based on a heritage of craftsmanship, with creative collections and ideas. Its optimism is shared by the target customer who is a woman who enjoys her life and looks on the bright side. Longchamp brings color to her life in different ways, through its collections and its positive spirit.
A new advertising concept began in 2012, reflecting a positioning of creative movement. This is a House that has been on the move since its beginnings, as well as showing movement in the creativity in its collections, its expression, its signature, its innovation. It is vibrant and alive, it is evolving, innovative, and creative, it is targeted at an active woman, it is energetic, fresh and multi-colored.
The most recent campaigns feature international model, Coco Rocha, who embodies the lively, witty aspects of the Longchamp brand. The campaign has demonstrated a light-hearted, confident approach and in the 2013 season shows a stronger, more self-assured side to the brand in a series of images shot by Greg Kadel among the skyscrapers of New York.
Longchamp, has recently opened its flagship store in Kuala Lumpur at Pavilion Mall.
This 1500 square foot Malaysian exclusive store continues Longchamp’s relationship with the region and will be Longchamp’s largest store in Malaysia. It is the latest expression of Longchamp’s global store design concept, which brings together the historic heritage of this family company with its creative, contemporary products and elegant style. The impressive new store features light and colour-filled spaces, creating a unique experience for customers and visitors. With specially dedicated areas for speciality products, the store will launch its high anticipated women’s ready to wear line of clothing as well asits shoe collection and men’s collection. Today, Longchamp is actively expanding its business worldwide via more than 1,800 stores in 101 countries, including 250 Longchamp boutiques.