All it took was a trip to Japan for Philippe Cassegrain to develop a fascination for origami. He wished to create a bag that, like an envelope, could be folded up when not in use. Both perfectly ingenious and essentially simple, the first model was released in 1993. Garnished with Russian leather and fabricated in ultra light nylon canvas, the bag has been released in a sensational variety of shapes, sizes, and colors ever since its initial creation. Composed with resistant materials with an elegant design, “le Pliage” would quickly become the brand’s best seller, adapting to every age and every use. Since its launch, 26 million have been sold; a leather version was even released last year.
Now the brand is opening its biggest European store in London: a bright and elegant boutique measuring 500 m2 and divided into three floors. At the center of the store, a monumental staircase leads to a mezzanine housing a singular and exclusive mobile made by the Troika trio of artists. In the middle of Regent Street, an iconic place to go shopping in London, “The House in Motion” as it was dubbed threw a private soirée just for its inauguration. All of London’s cool kids were there: Kate Moss, the brand’s muse since 2006, but also Mick and Georgia May Jagger, Pixie Geldorf, Zoé Kravitz, Zoe Saldana, Coca Rocha, while Alexa Chung was behind the turntables. The inauguration also served as a chance to present the Légende model, revisited and decked out in the Union Jack, available in only fifty copies.
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