Faure Le Page - Armed for Seduction

I think one of my hobbies must be unearthing under-the-radar brands before they get discovered by others!

I have always loved a good brand story and Fauré Le Page (pronouced "foray le pahj" ) enthralls me with their rich heritage and their unique background. The brand has laid dormant for much of its time and the gentle giant was roused when the current owner and creative director Augustin de Buffévent acquired the label in 2011.

Maisons with long history carry with them the most compelling stories -

"People didn't realise that leather goods were created by gunsmiths. Bags were made initially for men, not women. Many shapes that have been adopted by the fashion world came from the hunting industry, such as the bucket bag." - De Buffévent (SCMP)

In his brand reboot, De Buffevent referenced the brand's gunsmith heritage where they created prestige weaponry for high aristocrats as a symbol of their powers. And the maison started making the accompanying leather goods at the same time some three centuries ago for these aristocrats to carry these ammunition and personal effects.

Among all the numerals, only “7” has an arrow on the medal the lucky number of both the owner and the maison, with its roots pointing to the maison's founding year of 1717. De Buffévent often slips the numbers “7” and “17” discreetly onto the bags. For instance, he points out the 17 adjustment holes on the strap of the Daily Battle tote. On every seventh stripe on the Écailles motif, and every seventh scale, you will encounter scales with either the words “Fauré Le Page” or “Paris 1717”.

Fauré Le Page adopts the demanding technique of Lyon frame screen-printing, which requires meticulous precision and steady hands. To create their signature colour yellow named Ocre de Mars, a tribute to the god of war, the colouring process starts with applying black with one stencil, then layering on with light brown, medium brown, dark brown. All of Fauré Le Page's colour and formulation are the maison's intellectual property. Matching same colours of different tones requires sharp precision: a mere quarter of a millimetre misalignment on one side will cause a disaster when the print moves to the other side. In all, each canvas goes through a seven-step process, stretched and folded for up to 20,000 times to ensure strength and durability and take four months to complete. To ensure the strength and durability of the canvas, it is put through something of a boot camp.

I am so glad I chose Loki and Thor for this piece on the Fauré Le Page Pochette Zip Etendard 35. The weaponry these two characters hold are such a great complement to the brand's story. Until this day, I still love this two so much - playful, mischievous and fun. Very much the attributes I want to share to each of Deelydelly's clients!