A Profile of Longchamp

Longchamp was founded in 1948 by Frenchman Jean Cassegrain, in the Paris suburb of Longchamp. The company took its name and its famous horse logo from the french racing track of the same name, which every year hosts the prestigious Arc De Triomphe race featuring the best horses from Europe, as it was adjacent to the company's headquarters.

Longchamp employ over 1,000 staff within France with over 800 of the staff involved in the manufacturing of their products. They select only the finest quality leather for their products using French, Uruguayan and Italian sources to ensure the highest standards and finish to their products.

They started out by making handbags, clutch bags, purses, and luggage for the luxury sector, with the luggage collection including travel bags, suitcases, garment bags and toiletry bags.

During the 1980's Jean was succeeded at the company's helm by his son Phillipe who set about expanding their retail and manufacturing facilities into neighbouring Belgium and also Germany, Phillipe also expanded their product range into shoes, scarves and clothing. In 1993 Longchamp introduced its Le Pliage collection which used a vinyl material with leather trim to make the travel bags more pliable for international travel. These were well received and sold particularly well within the United States of America.

Most recently Longchamp have teamed up with celebrities from the world of fashion to collaborate to produce a range of handbags and purses with a distinctive style being used in the manufacturing process. The range was well received with the Glastonbury, Ladbroke and Gloucester models in particular proving to be highly popular.