The Longchamp Melbourne boutique, located on 292 Collins Street, will be owned and operated by Australian franchisee Hunt Leather, which is also responsible for the management of Longchamp's two Sydney-based stores in the Queen Victoria Building and the MLC Centre. Hunt Leather is one of only three Longchamp stockists in Melbourne, in addition to fashion boutique Christine and David Jones, but will now move all its Longchamp product into the official store, according to Hunt Leather managing director Sophie Hunt. “It's a further, and natural extension of the very long-standing relationship we have with Longchamp,” she said. “There will be no need for the Hunt Leather store to stock Longchamp, but the stores will sit side by side, and the rear of the Longchamp store opens through to the existing Hunt Leather location.”
Although Hunt Leather has had a Lonchamp Melbourne launch in mind for some time, Hunt said the final decision was made on the back of strong growth for the brand in Australia in recent years. “Hunt Leather has been retailing Longchamp [as a stockist] since 1976, but our turnover has tripled from 2006 to 2011,” she said. “Longchamp has grown exponentially in the last few years and Melbourne has been no exception. We have also opened new stores in the Sydney QVB and Perth, so the Melbourne Longchamp store is a natural step for us in line with the heady expansion of the last few years.” The new boutique will stock the full collection of Longchamp as well as a capsule of the ready to wear in the forthcoming autumn/winter 2011 collection. Longchamp will also debut its latest collection, a spring/summer bag range by Kate Moss, in the Melbourne store, and launched a online campaign in Australia earlier this month to promote its arrival in all Longchamp stores. The campaign, which launched via the Grazia and Harper’s Bazaar magazine websites, features an online movie titled “Faraway” starring Kate Moss, and also includes a matching mobile app for iPhone and Android. Daniela Aroche
