Longchamp collaborates with Vahram Muratyan

US based graphic designer, Vahram Muratyan, known for his bold prints, has joined forces with Longchamp to reimagine their signature Le Pliage bag.

Inspired by the Japanese art of Origami, as well as the translation of pliage to ‘folding’, Muratyan designed an exclusive font for Longchamp. Disguised within the bag’s origami white print, text reading Paris, London or New York has been added to the designs.

“I decided to create a full alphabet, a new special font for Longchamp; my wish was to look at the bags and find the words Paris, London or New York, but not right away. I certainly wanted to exit the ‘tourist-souvenir bag’ area,” said the designer in an interview with Business of Fashion.

Muratyan’s previous city inspired project ‘Paris Versus New York’, along with other work beside Prada and Dior sparked Longchamp’s interest in the designer. Sophie Delafontaine, artistic director at Longchamp, said “My brother Jean [Cassegrain, Longchamp chief executive] and I have always admired his work for its colourful aesthetic, bold lines and clever play on words. We thought Vahram could bring a fresh eye to our already widely popular collection.”

The Parisian fashion house has worked on many collaborations in the past, eyeing names including Tracy Emin, Kate Moss and Jeremy Scott for previous collections. “Doing these capsules, we love to open our doors to creatives who approach our bags in a new way, present new technical challenges, and enlarge our point of view,” Delafontaine concluded.

The collection will be available online and at selected Longchamp stores worldwide, with an exact date expected to be revealed soon.