ifestyle Longchamp’s Evolution

An Interview with Jean Cassegrain, Chief Executive Offi cer, Longchamp Jean Cassegrain (above) and a Longchamp handbag (left)

EDITORS’ NOTE Jean Cassegrain is a graduate The market for ladies’ accessories is much which used to be at Columbus Circle. We were of the prestigious École Supérieure de Commerce larger than for men’s accessories. Once again, in the U.S. for a long time and all of our items in Paris and as part of his national service spent their know-how of leather and leather goods were exported from Paris. a year at the French Trade Commission in New was used to create ladies’ products and that In 1993, we set up our own offi ce in New York, assisting French companies aiming to es- strategy has been very successful – today, most York to grow the business. When we opened tablish a foothold in the United States. He sup- of our customers are women. the Madison Avenue shop in 1999, my brother plemented this with a two-and-a-half-year In the ’80s, ladies’ handbags were still a Olivier moved to New York to oversee our retail career in management consultancy before join- product that you would buy because they were operation in the U.S. ing Longchamp. As his responsibilities gradu- convenient and practical to use all day. This as- What is the secret behind the brand’s ally increased, Jean Cassegrain became CEO of pect is still there, but it has been overshadowed longevity? the house, taking over the day-to-day running by a much more important aspect, which is the It’s consistency. As a family business, we of Longchamp from his father who, as President, handbag as a fashion item. are stable. My father has headed this company continues to be actively involved in the com- So we became a fashion brand and that since 1972. I joined in 1991 and my brother pany. Jean Cassegrain was made a Knight of meant moving into ready-to-wear and shoes, has been in New York for almost 15 years. So the Ordre national de la Légion d’honneur in which are closer to our know-how because this gives a lot of stability to our policies. January 2012. they’re based on leather as well. We don’t change strategy often – we like the It’s an interesting story how our company idea of building slowly and we are always mov- COMPANY BRIEF Founded in 1948, Longchamp has transformed itself from a purveyor of fi ne ing in the same direction. So the quality of our (www.longchamp.com) is a French luxury pipes for the young men of the ’50s to women’s products is a very important factor. leather goods company. The Longchamp House stilettos, skirts, dresses, and blouses of today. Also, we are still manufacturers. There are is still owned and managed by the family. The Would you describe your different not many brands around the world in our fi eld company is primarily known for its leather and techniques for distribution as well as the of leather goods that are the manufacturers of canvas handbags, its travel items, numerous partnerships you have developed with se- their own products. fashion accessories, ready-to-wear, and shoes. lect retailers? The fact that we have our own workshops The brand is present around the world in more Our distribution has evolved over the years. gives a lot of integrity to the product; we know than 250 boutiques and a total of more than In the beginning, we were purely a manufac- our business and stand behind the quality of 1,800 points of sale in more than a hundred turer and distributed our products exclusively our products. countries. through retailers. Taking the U.S. as an example, we Did the early vision for the company have been distributing through retailers in the U.S. anticipate this type of growth? How has the Longchamp brand evolved? since the 1950s. Saks Fifth Avenue and Nordstrom My grandfather had a vision and was a real en- We started making leather covered pipes were the fi rst major U.S. retailers to carry the trepreneurial spirit. He started traveling and export- and now we sell multiple fashion product cat- brand. We then launched with Bloomingdale’s ing early on. Once our company was founded, he egories including handbags and shoes. in 2005. These are all longstanding customers of hired an export manager and started exporting the Our DNA is that we have always been con- the brand. We are still in business with them, products because he was internationally minded. temporary so we have moved with the times and and these retailers continue to cater to loyal He selected the name Longchamp because it was with our customers. Longchamp customers. More recently, we have easy to pronounce in many languages. In the ’50s, it was fashionable to smoke a opened distribution with Neiman Marcus and What are you most focused on to con- pipe so we were already in the business of nov- Holt Renfrew in Canada. tinue the strength of the brand? elty and fashion in a way, and the pipes were Alongside this wholesale network and the Emerging markets have captured our at- leather-covered, so we always had a leather ele- department stores, we now have our own retail tention. The brand is growing a lot in Asia, as ment to the brand. stores, which we have developed over the past well as in Europe and the U.S. We have a lot of But my grandfather and father were inter- 20 years. During this time, we have built a signifi - Asian customers in our stores all over the world. ested in expanding their markets and their cant retail network and, until recently, we had 13 I regularly travel to China where we are pre- opportunities. stores in the U.S. Just this past month, we opened paring for a strong future for our brand. Southeast From that leather element, they expanded an additional store in Aventura, Florida. We will Asia is also a growing market: Thailand, Singapore, into other products for the same customer base, open a second location in Miami later this year Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines are be- in particular, small leather goods – wallets and in the Miami Design District. coming more important as well. There is an such – and larger leather goods, like leather Is the U.S. the largest market for you? emerging class of people that can buy European bags, and ultimately, leather travel bags. What about growth in emerging markets? products and travel to Europe to see our shops. Our company was founded in 1948 but, France is still our largest market and the We have also set up an operation in Sao for a long time, it was a fully male brand U.S. is our number-one market outside of Paolo, Brazil. In addition, we have franchised with no female customers. It made a move France. We have been selling to the U.S. since shops in Mexico, Venezuela, and Colombia and in the ’70s and ’80s, expanding into women’s the ’50s – my father went as a young man to these countries are all doing well and are grow- products. participate in a trade show at the Coliseum, ing signifi cantly.• 254 LEADERS POSTED WITH PERMISSION. COPYRIGHT © 2013 LEADERS MAGAZINE, INC. VOLUME 36, NUMBER 4