Kate Moss for Longchamp - Collaboration

"I've been working with Longchamp for a while, we just get on." Kate Moss

Working closely with Artistic Director Sophie Delafontaine, Kate put her passion for fashion and her personal experience [..] into her designs.
Between Kate Moss and Longchamp, there is respect, trust and genuine warmth. It was a relationship waiting to move onto another plane. Now that plane has been attained as Kate - the iconic silent model-muse - gives voice to her own creativity.
It's now eight seasons since Kate Moss became the face of Longchamp - eight seasons during which that first, much talked-about campaign has blossomed into one of fashion's most alluring and enduring partnerships.

Les coulisses de la collaboration: séances de travail, confection, interviews...

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What inspires you about Longchamp?: "I just really like them as people. I find them lovely to work with, so that was the main issue.
For me, that is always the first thing. Longchamp is a family business, it's been going for more than 60 years, and I just love the whole feeling of it."
How did you work with Sophie Delafontaine and her team? Did she come to visit you, did you go to Paris?: "Yes, she'd come to me, and I'd go to Paris. I went to the Longchamp design studio, and I met Sophie's father, who has had the business for so long. He was really nice with me, and we all sat round, and he said, ""Oh, yes, I like that"", you know. It was backwards and forwards really. Sophie would send me samples of leather, and I'd send them back with notes. It was all very natural and easy-going. Also, because Sophie understands me, she got it straight away when I'd say things like: ""I like this kind of leather"". It was lovely to work that way."
What do you look for in a bag?: "For me, a great bag should be comfortable, and it should be light. You know, I get so much stuff, and I pack my bags to the brim, so if it's a heavy bag to start with I can never carry it. I also want it to be durable, and for it to actually work as a bag. I find that some bags just hang open all the time, and are completely non-functional."

How did you work with Kate?: "In concrete terms, we had a series of meetings over more than a year. The first time was at Kate's house, one evening after a campaign shoot. We went into her dressing room, which is of course absolutely amazing, and which enabled me to understand what she likes. [...] Even to see how Kate's dressing room was organized made me understand the different types of woman she could be. For example, she has an entire room devoted to jeans, and another to evening dresses - the casual side of her personality and the glamorous side are totally separate. In terms of materials, she loves anything animal - that also reflects her personality - as well as shagreen, which she finds extremely refined and precious."
Why do you think Kate and Longchamp get along so well?: "I think there is a lot of mutual trust and respect. We began to work with Kate at what was perhaps a difficult time for her, and she has always been able to trust us. She knows we respect her enormously for her professionalism. What fascinates me most, now that we have shot our ninth campaign for this collaboration, is that each time she manages to be completely different, to take me completely by surprise, even though the photo is always Kate with a Longchamp bag. We respect her talent and her professionalism, and I think she appreciates Longchamp, both the company and its products. It's a good mix!"

Whose idea was it to sign Kate Moss as the face of Longchamp in 2005? What did you want to achieve?: "It was a collective idea. We wanted a spokesperson who would not only represent the values of Longchamp, but whom women throughout the world would recognize and identify with. There were very few people who ticked all our boxes. Kate Moss is the archetypal contemporary woman, with an image that in addition is closely linked to fashion. That was another important factor for us, given that Longchamp's origins are in leather goods, and our aim was to raise our profile in the world of fashion."
How did the Kate Moss for Longchamp collaboration come about?: "We have spent quite a lot of time with Kate over recent years, preparing for and shooting the advertising campaigns, choosing the visuals, and so on, and we have built up a relationship of trust. Kate always has a viewpoint on the products, on the styling of the campaigns, on the bags she models, or the collections she sees in the showroom, so the idea came quite naturally to take our relationship further and actually create something together."