Luxury French fashion brand Longchamp unveiled its spring summer 23 collection at its latelyre-designed exchange in the heart of London’s Mayfair on 22 November. The 2,379 sq ft space, which opened on 5 September 2022, has been designed to replicate a Parisian apartment to reflect the heritage of the brand which was innovated in Paris in 1948.
Hector Cassegrain, managing director for UK & Ireland at Longchamp, said the store was designed to increase commerce with guests. Cassegrain explained that the business wanted “ to make sure that the store remains approachable and a place where people can fluently walk by without feeling exorbitantly spooked – commodity that you occasionally have with luxury ”.
To do this, Longchamp has removed all tills from the store, which spans three bottoms, to produce a near propinquity between shoppers and deals sidekicks and strengthen the brand experience in store. “ Deals sidekicks can help( guests) anywhere within the store, ” he said, “ that was the first thing we did to close that propinquity between our brigades in store and the customer.
“ That particular commerce with a deals adjunct; seeing your style, seeing what you like,( who) can incontinently suggest new pieces and effects you had not allowed of yourself – this is the experience that we’re aiming for. ”
At the heart of the store is the chesterfield( pictured over), where guests are invited to snare a coffee and indulge and browse the ready- to- wear particulars, similar as trousers and dresses, and accessories in this section, which are an edit of Longchamp’s rearmost collections that are available to buy.
Inside, the design of the store features quaint- style cabinetwork, Haussmannian mouldings( armature typical of Parisian style), settees for guests to chesterfield on, cosy hairpieces and dramatic artwork, including a 63- forecourt- metre art installation by US artist Maya Hayuk.
The study process behind this store’s styling, Cassegrain said, is to give guests with a place to visit, rest and recoup, whether they’ve been spending the day shopping or rushing around from meeting to meeting. “ We want to offer that safe haven. It’s a place where you ’re invited to come and sit down and have a good time. That was really a big part of the conception, ” he added.
Included in the spring summer 23 collection, which Drapers previewed, is the new special edition Le Pliage Filet Lurex bag, which has had a gleeful revamp with a sparkle effect and is only available in the UK and US, priced at£ 110, and the Box- gallop in two new colourways; sherbet bomb and delicacy pink, priced at£ 445.
Experience and conception stores are popping up more and more- Nike opened its alternate conception store known as Nike Live in October 2022 in Battersea Power Station, which offers perceptivity participated by original Nike “ members ” through a “ digital ecosystem ”. Meanwhile, River Island unveiled its conception store in Derby in September, which boasts smart befitting apartments that identify and display products on defenses. Longchamp’s managing director believes this will come a driving force for retailers as it delivers a different position of commerce between a brand and its client that ecommerce can not offer.
“ Why are you going into a store? ” he questioned. “ It’s to have that commerce because if there’s an item you formerly know you want to buy or if it’s loss for your masses, you do n’t really need to go into a store because there’s now so numerous different services available for everyone far and wide, so for us it’s surely pushing on that experience of a store. ”
This type of experience store is set to be rolled out into other retail spaces too- Cassegrain told Drapers that while each store will have its own fortes, “ it’s surely a conception that we want to have in different stores as well ”.
Longchamp has 16 retail outlets in the UK and Ireland. It’s intimately possessed and managed by the Cassegrain launching family.