BAZAAR Exclusive: Interview With Longchamp's Artistic Director Sophie Delafontaine

We caught up with Longchamp's artistic director Sophie Delafontaine in Paris during fashion week.

By Jiawa Liu - published 4 Mar 2022

For Longchamp’s spring/summer 2022 collection, artistic director Sophie Delafontaine transported us to the South of France and for fall/winter 2022, we find ourselves in the French Alps. This collection effortlessly walks the line between classicism and sportiness, with tailored coats interspersed with quilted nylon, giving us a tantalising insight into how the Parisian tackles the slopes in style.

The key story that underpins this theme is Delafontaine’s continued focus on sustainability. This season, the Le Pilage bag are created from leftover nylon recycled from past collections, in limited-edition colour combinations — just one of the ways that Longchamp is seeking to demonstrate that designing with sustainability in mind can be fun, exciting, and give rise to fresh possibilities.

Harper’s BAZAAR Singapore caught up with Delafontaine in Paris during the fall/winter 2022 fashion week.

This season you are taking us to the French Alps. Can you tell us more?

I think it’s always all about this Parisian woman who’s happy to go outside of Paris. It’s also about the moments that we all share with friends and family. So, this winter I was inspired by the French Alps and ski resorts. In fact, it is merging very well with our brand values, authenticity and energy. I think in the Alps you can really feel this authenticity — around the chalets and the woods… cocooned inside by the fireplace. It’s warm and elegant, and it’s also about the know-how. You also have the whole ski environment, with this great energy, dynamics and speed. Everything is very colourful, graphic and made of technical materials like nylon, which pretty much expresses the Longchamp spirit.

You were previously inspired by furniture designers and this season, you’re also excited by another one.

Charlotte Perriand really inspired me for this collection. She was one of the most famous French designers and architects — really creative and was one of the first women in the architecture and design world. At the beginning of her career, Charlotte worked on the architecture of her friend’s resort in the Alps. She designed a building that really inspired me. It’s about wood, know-how, quality and at the same time the architecture is very graphic — strong and with a lot of character. I like mixing very masculine patterns and fabrics like pied de poule, and prince-de-galles with very feminine silhouettes. She was a great designer and a great inspiration.

There’s a lot of colour this season too.

I love playing with colour. At Longchamp we emphasise a lot on colour, because it’s about optimism and joie de vivre. It’s true that colour is very important for me, especially in the accessories world. I think it’s super easy to dress in black, beige and other neutral colours, but also cool to accessorise your outfits with bright, bold hues. This season, in terms of silhouette, I play a lot with layering –with some pieces in quilted nylon adorned with the motif of our horse. I like to have them in bright shades worn under a timeless trench coat. The idea is to layer with a touch of colour to brighten up your style.

So much has happened in the world. How does this collection reflect all that?

We worked a lot on sustainability the last two years. It’s something that has been part of the Longchamp DNA for a very long time. As manufacturers, sustainability has always been part of our engagement. But in the past two years we decided to produce our nylon bag, — our iconic best seller — with 100 per cent recycled material. That was really a huge switch and emphasising our commitment towards sustainability and protecting our planet. For many years we have also been doing repairs. We design products that are timeless and we give them a second life with repair.