There are insulated pockets of London where Longchamp’s Le Pliage bag never went out of style.
Scuttle out of South Ken or Sloane Square and the Le Pliage —all rounded leather straps and nylon body — has long been anappropriate carry-all for sophisticated mothers and daughters alike.
You could not, however, say that the Le Pliage was cool.
Since the late Philippe Cassegrain designed the origami-inspired bag in 1993, it has experienced ebbs and flows of popularity. It would be fair to say, outside the aforementioned, well-off bubbles, recent years have seen a prolonged ebb. Now, though, the tide appears to have turned.
The Lyst Index, which charts fashion’s hottest products each quarter — often the snug home of all things viral Miu Miu, Prada and Bottega Veneta — have published their Q2 report. A twist: the humble Longchamp staple has climbed up to be the ninth most popular product right now. This is a feat for an item which Catherine, Princess of Wales boasts a collection of, and the likes of Alexa Chung and Kate Moss thought was fashionable in 2011.
But as per Lyst’s report, searches for the style are up 56 per cent, while ‘Longchamp Le Pliage’ has over 105 million TikTok views. “The bag has found a fresh audience on Tiktok,” says Katy Lubin, Lyst’s Head of Brand and Communications. “For this new generation of Longchamp lovers, it’s giving ‘French Girl Style’, ‘quiet luxury’ and ’old money aesthetic’. Some see it as the perfect school bag, while older Millennials feel nostalgic to see it come around again.” It has also been helped by inhabiting a regular spot on Kendall Jenner’s arm; a frequent face for the brand in recent years.
Le Pliage’s appeal in 2023 apperas to be the breath of its appeal. It is at once a nineties / noughties throwback for Gen-Z, and a classic, relatively affordable investment for more mature buyers. “It’s powerful, and quite rare, to see a hero product that appeals to multiple audiences at once. There’s a shopper that wants it because they’ve seen a creator showing what’s in her bag on TikTok. There’s another customer looking for it because she knows it’s worn by Kate Middleton,” Lubin continues.
Anyone who found themselves on Regent Street on the evening of July 12 will have borne witness the revamp: the three story, flagship Longchamp shop was overhauled by a veritable celeb-fest toasting it’s new quirky collaboration with Toiletpaper — the picture-based magazine founded in 2010 by Italian photographer, Pierpaolo Ferrari and artist Maurizio Cattelan (the latter of 2019 Art Basel, banana-sellotaped-to-wall-notoriety).
The It-girls arrived in their droves: Suki Waterhouse, girlfriend of Robert Pattinson posed with semi-naked boxers alongside her sister, Immy. They were followed by Elle Fanning, Lady Amelia Windsor and Mia Regan, as Bob Geldof’s daughter Pixie took to the decks. All around, the new pop-art Le Pliage bags flooded shelves, splashed with bulldogs smoking cigars, skulls and baguette crosses, and a big fist wearing a knuckle ring spelling out love. “We try to invent, to make life not boring,” says Cattelan.
It is the latest installment of Longchamp’s regular collaborations that offer up the Le Pliage as a canvas, with the intention of reaching new customers; previous years have seen help enlisted from French artist André Saraiva (2022), Chinese food influencer Mr. Bags (2019), and fashion designer Jeremy Scott, who worked with the brand for over a decade, beginning in 2006.
“It feels good to create something unique, like Tolietpaper, and to have a vision that sits apart from both of our careers – me as a photographer, Maurizio as an artist,” Ferrari says. “We try to use the codes of the contemporary moment, which helps us to surprise people.”
But the biggest shock? That you could find the most popular bag this summer stuffed down the back of your closet.
The best Longchamp Le Pilage’s to buy now:
The classic:
Le Pliage, medium tote bag, £100, farfetch.com
The traveller:
Le Pliage, medium travel bag, £140, longchamp.com
The quirky:
Longchamp X Toiletpaper, Le Pliage small travel bag, £325, longchamp.com
