Interview: Sophie Delafontaine on French art de vivre and Longchamp's new collection

For the Longchamp Spring/Summer 2022 collection, it is all about family values, French savoir-faire and eclectic fashion, including a momentous collaboration between Longchamp and Charvet, the latter known for its famed linen fabric.

Taking cues from linen tea towels and unique embroidery techniques, the collection translates the signatures of Provence into its designs. The Longchamp story started in Provence and has now travelled the world into your wardrobe to create that perfect summer moment for you.

For this Spring/Summer 2022 collection, you decided to do a film presentation instead of a runway show at fashion week. What inspired you to do so?

I wanted to speak about the beauty of the South of France and showcase the idea of a family home in that region, where we can finally meet and gather again with our family and friends to enjoy the French art de vivre with sunshine, warmth and great cuisine.

The concept behind the film is really just about a girl who is eating a little tomato and remembers all the great moments she spent with her friends.

And why did you choose Provence as the starting point of this narrative?

One of the main reasons is because I have a house in the region as my summer holiday home and it is a great place, where I have many gatherings with my family and friends. And I want to emulate that wonderful feeling and mood into the collection.

It is warm, fun and filled with the values of the South of France, where there is a rich source of history, culture and a lot of savoir-faire that I want to show to the world.

Within the collection, which are your favourite looks of the season?

For the looks, I really love the first look from the collection, which is a very simple white dress that showcases a very renowned embroidery technique used in the region called “Buti”, where it utilises padded work to create a three- dimensional effect on the fabric.

There is also the tea-towel print and designs on the dresses that add a little colour to the collection. It’s a little sneak peek into the motifs found in the South of France.

On the bags, I find it very hard to choose one design because I’ve put all my heart into designing each of them but the Le Pliage Torchon is a cool bag that is perfect for summer for all occasions.

The new Le Pliage Torchon is unlike any we have seen before. Can you share your design process for this new silhouette?

Circling back to the French art de vivre, I really wanted to create something fun with the tea towel. As you know, quality is very important to the house of Longchamp and the fabric we use for the bag is super strong and durable.

Charvet, the company we are collaborating with to create this collection, is one that I have known and worked with for a very long time and they are France’s oldest manufacturer of traditional tea towels (since 1866). I think it is a very cool idea to work with their material to create this season’s look.

On the topic of family and French art de vivre, what do they mean to you personally?

If you compare France with other countries, you’d find that gatherings like ours at our family home or holiday home aren’t that common. It is almost like our signature tradition for summer to gather everyone in our home to enjoy precious moments together with fine cuisine, delicate decor and more. That is what French art de vivre means to me.

Now that the world is opening up from the long-lasting lockdown, what do you look forward to the most?

I look forward to meeting everyone again. I truly miss that. It would be great to gather with you and everyone else in real life for a meal. It is very important to share a real-life moment together especially for everyone in the Longchamp family.