Store Longchamp

Product range. Longchamp is a notable French handbag maker. Nowadays, apart from its staple handbags, the company also offers apparel collections, but is still thought of as an accessory brand. The most iconic of the whole range is Le Pliage, oft-counterfeited women's foldaway shopper. This is a large nylon handbag with double leather shoulder straps. Longchamp is also known for its travel bags with the retail chain covering just about any international airport.

Originality. Most of the handbags by Longchamp are very capable, sleek, and clean-cut. The handbags are made of leather and suede in subdued colours with details striped down to the bare minimum.

Chic. They are more of commuter handbags than flashy accessories to show off at the parties and other special occasions. Longchamp is known to be somewhat arrogant in its negligence of the latest trends and sticks to time-honoured styles.

Pricing. A Longchamp handbag may cost from €100 to €700.

Corporate history highlights. Longchamp began as a modest tobacco shop in Paris. When Jean Cassegrain inherited the shop from his father, he started making leather coverings for pipes and other accessories for smokers in 1948. After opening its first factory in 1955, by the 1960s the company broke with its 'pipe dreams' of the past and completely transitioned to the leather accessories market. An ardent equestrian, Cassegrain chose the galloping horse logo with the brand name ' Longchamp' (literally 'Long Field') inspired by the Longchamp racecourse in the Bois de Boulogne in Paris.

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