Listen up, Longchamp lovers: bother not with doing your bag shopping abroad anymore — their flagship just opened its shiny doors in EmQuartier last month. Fans of fashion are probably already aware, but for others, British style maven and the face of the brand Alexa Chung was also in town for the celebration. (Try spotting her again this New Year, as she hopes to return for some partying.)
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Longchamp’s autumn/winter 2016 campaign.
According to Sophie Delafontaine, artistic director and third generation of the Longchamp family, also in town, Thailand is one of the biggest markets for the brand in Asia, with their latest flagship store rivalling the selection available in the shopping haven of Hong Kong.
“The store in Hong Kong is huge, but Thailand is a really strong market for Longchamp, and it’s important to have a modern store like the ones in Saint Honore and Champs Elysees, because it expresses the new lifestyle of Longchamp. It allows us to show the shoes and ready-to-wear, which I think really show who the Longchamp woman behind the bag is. It’s really a new spirit and era for Longchamp.”
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![](http://www.bangkokpost.com/media/content/dcx/2016/06/02/1798285.jpg)
Alexa Chung in Bangkok.
The extremely thin and cheeky model, now well into her 30s, has been with the French heritage leather house for the past six campaigns, but says that despite the demands and expectations of the brand, she still gets to manage it with her own style. As can be expected with her playful tendencies, her “dream cool bag” is the Pliage Heritage Hobo, in either black or brown, for its classic shape and satchel-like body, handy for travelling.
“I’m very lucky because with Longchamp, what they recognised and required of me was that I retain my own unique sense of style, and I was encouraged to incorporate their beautiful clothes and bags into my own wardrobe. So it’s still a reflection of who I am,” Chung says. “But for the campaign, I’m wearing Longchamp clothes, styling it according to my own taste. It’s a great fit, because I’m given a lot of freedom to play around. Like at the event, I was just myself, wearing a velvet dress and vintage blouse with my favourite Longchamp bag.”
As a woman once declared among the world’s best-dressed, Chung is known to refuse wearing what she doesn’t like, and she parts with some style tips.
“One of the main things about having good style is just knowing yourself very well. What I always admire about other women or men, because a lot of men are my style icons as well, is somebody that’s fully expressing themselves through clothing which doesn’t have to be expensive or crazy — it just needs to ring true to the eye. If someone looks amazing, it’s usually because they know who they are, they’re confident and happy to express that.”
This source first appeared on Bangkok Post Lifestyle.