Woman With A Vision

Sophie Delafontaine, artistic director at Longchamp, talks about the crux of collaborations, why brand experiences are cardinal and the importance of fashion adapting to the needs of women

- Andrea Sim

As the granddaughter of Longchamp’s founder Jean Cassegrain, it isn’t a stretch to imagine that Sophie Delafontaine’s role of artistic director at the brand was written in the stars — that she was predestined by genetics to one day make her mark at the family-owned and run company. She had shadowed her father Philippe Cassegrain on store visits and business trips growing up, and by virtue of that, witnessed first-hand Longchamp’s growth from a purveyor of small leather goods, luggage and women’s handbags in the ‘70s to the stellar fashion and accessories brand that it is today.

Yet Delafontaine initially had other plans of her own. “Even though I was born into our family business, I didn’t think I would be joining the company. As a little girl, I wanted to be a school teacher,” she says. Just as few grow up to become astronauts or superheroes, she didn’t end up an educator, but specialised in childrenswear at the French fashion school ESMOD Paris before going on to kickstart a career of her own at Bonpoint. It was only four years later that Delafontaine answered her calling.

Her imprint as Longchamp’s artistic director is seen most palpably in its launch of ready-to-wear in 2006, allowing it to evolve into a fashion house marked by an iconic stable of bags that include the Le Pliage and Roseau. She’s orchestrated artist and designer collaborations from the early ‘00s, before such cross-pollination became de rigueur for fashion brands in modern times. Most importantly, she recognises that women today aren’t dressing to the tune of societal expectations, but to the beat of their own drums, resulting in the textural collections and often adventurous garments that Longchamp proposes.