[2] Today, the company designs and manufactures leather and canvas handbags, luggage, shoes, travel items, fashion accessories, and women's ready-to-wear.

[3][4][5] The house is privately owned and managed by the Cassegrain founding family[4][1] and does business in 80 countries through around 1,500 retail outlets.

At that time, there was a flour mill visible on the outskirts of Paris, at the end of the Longchamp Racecourse’s final furlong.

[4] Longchamp opened boutiques in Southeast Asia towards the end of the 1970s[8] and was one of the first European brands to be sold in Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan.

[16] Philippe Cassegrain also invented the Xtra-Bag, a bag that folded down to a quarter of its size and slid into a simple case.

[9] Longchamp launched its first women's handbag in 1971 by reworking a toiletry case and adding a shoulder strap and two flaps.

In 1993, Philippe Cassegrain, Longchamp's CEO, personally designed what would become the company's most famous handbag: Le Pliage, which means ‘folding’ in French.

To keep the bag very light, Philippe Cassegrain combined Russia leather handles with a nylon canvas body.

[19] The bag's simple shape and wide range of colors and styles, make it the brand's most successful product[11][20] and one of the most popular handbags in the world.

[10][18] Longchamp has collaborated with designers and artists such as Tracey Emin, Mary Katrantzou, Jeremy Scott and Sarah Morris to reinterpret its collection of Le Pliage totes.

[27] In August 2020, Longchamp launched Green District, its first line of bags designed from recycled nylon fiber “Econyl”.

[8] The brand's relationship to art continued in the 1970s when they introduced a limited edition series of bags featuring a design by the famous Franco-Russian artist Serge Mendjisky.

[12][31] The success of the Zip Bag led to Heatherwick's designing of the Longchamp's New York City flagship store.

[11] Jeremy Scott has regularly designed special editions of Le Pliage tote since 2005[32] as well as other collections of handbags every year.

[12] In 2009, Jeremy Scott, Charles Anastase and design duo Bless joined forces to celebrate 20 years of the French association ANDAM (Association Nationale pour le Développement des Arts de la Mode), which promotes emerging French and international fashion talent.

His designs over the past 10 years have included a poodle in space, zodiac signs, a credit card and tire tracks.

The limited-edition of handbags created for the 10th anniversary of his partnership with Longchamp featured a postcard from Hollywood, signed by the designer "Wish you were here".

[45] For the smaller one, the designer used both an Asian temple and New York's Carnegie Hall as her starting points, adorning both with colorful flowers and lanterns.

[45] In 2014, Longchamp partnered with artist Sarah Morris to create a limited edition of Le Pliage handbags.

[25][21][48] In September 2020, during Paris Fashion Week, Longchamp presents a collaboration with Pokemon for the Le Pliage line.

[49] Initially, Jean Cassegrain purchased items for smokers (particularly pipes) and had them covered with leather by Parisian craftsmen.

[12] Faced with the brand's success, and to support the diversification of the products offered, he opened Longchamp's first workshop in Segré, France, in 1959 .

[8][12] The company's production capacity increased regularly in Segré and through new facilities: Rémalard in 1969, Ernée in 1972, then Combrée, Château-Gontier[50] and Montournais in the 2000s.

This new site, which measures approximately 7000 square meters, will have space for 100 people (compared to 70 currently) and will include a learning workshop to support the training and the integration of new staff.

[9] The brand has a presence in 80 countries[56] including in Brazil,[4][15] Israel, Abu Dhabi,[51] Peru, Chile, Paraguay, Canada, Austria, Macao, Cambodia, Dubai, Kuala Lumpur,[5] Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia...[15] Longchamp plans to expand its network across the Middle-East region with a focus on Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

A total of 3,200 people work for the brand worldwide[23][57][8][14] through company-owned boutiques and franchises, department store concessions, multi-brand fine leather goods dealers, airport shops and online sales, through 20 distribution subsidiaries.

[4] In 2006, the company opened a flagship store, "La Maison Unique" in New York City's SoHo district.

This boutique features a wall of Longchamp's famous Le Pliage handbags[62] and attracts Parisians and tourists from around the world.

[56] Longchamp is present in major European cities, including London, Rome, Barcelona, Munich[17] and Vienna.

[29] The store is spread out over seven floors and displays all of the collections, to include luggage, ready-to-wear, shoes and leather goods.