Longchamp

Longchamp is a French brand founded by Jean Cassegrain in Paris in 1948, known for pipes with the bowl and shank covered in leather. The brand arose from an unexpected solution in postwar Paris; within a few years it had given its name to an entire fashion in the pipe world, and in the following decades it shifted its weight toward leather goods, gaining the identity it holds today.

An Idea Born in a Tobacco Shop

The brand's starting point is a small tobacco shop called "Au Sultan" on Boulevard Poissonnière in Paris's second arrondissement. Operating since before the war, the shop sold items like fountain pens alongside tobacco products. Jean Cassegrain took over the shop's management right after the war; corporate records give the brand's official start date as 1 February 1948.

Most of the stock he inherited with the shop consisted of wartime pipes. The production restrictions imposed in France in 1940 had left their mark on this batch: workmanship was crude, and large fills were noticeable on the bodies. With the market having returned to prewar standards, such stock was not easy to move. Cassegrain's solution was to have a saddler cover the bowls and shanks in leather. The covering completely hid the flawed briar surface, leaving only the rim of the bowl and the tip of the shank exposed. The result was both an unusual look and a body that stayed cooler in the hand.

The Racehorse Emblem and Rapid Spread

Since the Cassegrain name had been registered as a trade name by a relative, the founder named his new business after the Longchamp racecourse near Paris, reflecting his interest in horse racing. A galloping racehorse with a jockey's silhouette was chosen as the emblem.

Once the old stock ran out, leather covering became the sole product line; according to records, the bodies at this stage were ordered from established French workshops such as Ropp and Butz-Choquin. The large number of Allied soldiers then in Paris played a major part in the product's rapid spread; the business reportedly also secured a supply contract with American army sales units. The program gradually expanded to include finer leathers such as calfskin and suede, bright colors, and smaller-sized models.

The leather-covering idea prompted other manufacturers to launch their own lines as well; GBD, Sasieni, Gubbels, and Savinelli are among the names that joined the trend.

The Move into Leather Goods and the End of Production

The family expanded into small leather goods in 1955; pipe cases, tobacco pouches, ashtrays, and lighters — items closely tied to pipe smoking — were part of this line as well. In 1959 the brand's first workshop was set up near Angers, in Segré. From the 1960s onward, the center of gravity increasingly shifted to leather goods.

Interest in leather-covered pipes declined after 1970. These pipes last appeared in the 1978 catalogue; according to records, orders already placed continued to be fulfilled until 1980. Today the Longchamp name is remembered in the pipe community only for the collector pieces from this period.