Longchamp (pronounced lohng-shoh) takes inspiration from “strong and independent French girls of the 1970s” for its Fall/Winter 2017 collection of bags.
The bolzos carry rich hues like the seasons they want to evoke. Lilac and amethyst exist in monochromatic harmony. Reds, pinks and corals take it one notch further, while reliable tans and brown make sure the bags stay timeless.
Longchamp Asia-Pacific area manager Cherry Siu said the newly-launched beauties also reflected the “strong femininity of French women—their perfume, their makeup, that cool and very stylish attitude.”
The SSI Group staged a quiet presentation at the Blackbird in Ayala Triangle, Makati City, in mid-July, offering fashion journalists and bloggers a close encounter with the lush leathers and smooth suedes that went into each piece.
Heading the pretty posse is the cognac-colored Mademoiselle (French for “miss”), a sensible streamlined hobo bag in calfskin that Siu said was the star product of this season’s line.
It’s stamped with a red wax seal on the side, a new feature unique to this collection.
There is also the very exciting, tricolored Effrontee, a decidedly younger design that ought to hang from a stylish ingénue’s shoulder on a night out. It has just enough space for a lippie, a credit card, a cellphone and its power bank.
Also expected to be a hit among the millennial set is the Le Pliage Cuir Etoiles, a bright-colored tote with a flap embellished with suns and stars.
Classic made new
Longchamp’s presenters were notably excited about the Penelope Arty, a lambskin leather tote with cowhide leather patches that look 3D, and the coral Le Pliage Cuir Etoiles, a reinvention of a classic made new by the addition of a renegade-looking guitar strap that can be bought separately in boutiques.
A more modest sister, the tan Le Pliage Cuir backpack, has an elegance that prefers not to shine like its more outspoken siblings.
Also on display were the amethyst and gray versions of the Penelope Soft in leather and suede that would look great when tied with a Longchamp abstract print scarf to the strap, and the Madeleine that could turn heads in the board room or during Sunday service when accessorized with a Longchamp rabbit’s foot pompom.
“The focus of this collection is the Parisian mood,” Siu explained. Longchamp’s area manager noted that Blackbird was made to look like a French apartment to echo the atmosphere evoked by the bags.
Siu said the collection talked about “Parisian ladies in terms of style, from the more casual as seen in the new shoulder straps to the high quality leathers.”
Danish model Freja Beha Erichsen, whose surpasses even that of some famous French It Girls, has been chosen to head Longchamp’s ad campaign, Siu added.
Longchamp is available in Rustan’s Makati, Shangri-La, Ayala Cebu
and boutiques owned and operated by Stores Specialists, Inc.
