Official Au Départ Paris Thread

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MrÉtoupe

O.G.
Aug 4, 2011
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I was quite surprised that I got zero hits for Au Départ on TPF, so I thought let’s make a thread!

Au Départ (translated "At the departure") is a Parisian trunkmaker founded in Paris in 1834 and is considered as one of four greatest French trunk-makers alongside Louis Vuitton, Goyard and Moynat. The Parisian brand relaunched in April 2019 during the Milan Design Week by the Groupe Arnault company.

Au Départ is famous for its distinctive geometric monogram pattern. As seen below.

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They offer quite a broad selection of products, for both men and women.
I included a few products below, for the prices I would like to refer to their official website.
Click here!

What are your thoughts on Au Départ?

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Indeed thanks for opening this thread @MrGoyard ! I was also quite surprised not to find anything here on this brand.

I found out about their relaunch last year and was quite excited to see this historic Maison being brought back to life again.
They currently only sell through a small selection of retailers and to my surprise don’t have any boutiques in Paris today but it wouldn’t suprise me that Covid caused them a big pushback.

I was thrilled to find a historic brand that today is still quite unknown to most people and not widely seen on the street counterfeited on 16-year-olds.

their collection is full of interesting pieces, like this beautifully crafted Petit Seine bag that has become one of my favorites in their signature canvas.

Also very interesting are their pieces in reflective Jacquard, that gives a modern feel to the classic print.

Very curious to hear all your opinions about the brand and their revival!

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I think I should take a pause on LV after scoring a Speedy. I thought I wanted a small bag from LV. But you convinced me to go here. Their prices are so reasonable with their beautiful bags! :love:
 
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You are so right @BleuSaphir !
I took a break from LV a while ago and don’t feel like spending those amounts on bags that are seen on Every. Single. Person. On the street… of course I will keep some classic LV items that I treasure forever in my collection. But for new bags I will look elsewhere.

Honestly, the best feeling ever, when some fashionable person in a store asks me “what is the brand of that beautiful bag you’re wearing” followed by “I don’t think I’ve ever heard of them”
 
I’ve been curious to buy a bag since some of the prices online are very friendly. However, I can’t find a single review aside from a YT video about a pouch. Anyone have any experience?
 
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I’ve got two of their bags now; the black reflective Europe tote and the small size Seine in classic canvas.
Great quality and details, stitching, hardware etc. I did notice their monograms / motifs are not always aligned or symmetrical.
They say that this was always the case also with their historical pieces.

The silkscreened monogram is not a manual printing process by the look of it. Not like Goyard or Fauré Le Page that has this charming inconsistency in the print.
I personally love the Reflective Jacquard as it is a contemporary take on a historic monogram where they weave a reflective thread into the fabric.


I always get questions from people about the brand and I quite like to have something different from anybody else on the street.
Not so sure about how big of a success the brand is at the moment as it seems that by now they only sell through their own webshop I think. What is interesting is that indeed you can find some great pieces online at interesting prices. In case you want to be able to resell your bags you might wanna think twice.

Both Moynat and Au Départ were relaunched by Luvanis investment group.
Of course now LVMH Bernard Arnault acquired Moynat so they have a stronger group behind them. Au Départ was only relaunched in 2019 and then Covid hit. Who knows what the brand will do in the coming years but it also took Moynat some time to gain marketshare.

Would be interested to hear anybody else about their experience or views!
 
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I’ve got two of their bags now; the black reflective Europe tote and the small size Seine in classic canvas.
Great quality and details, stitching, hardware etc. I did notice their monograms / motifs are not always aligned or symmetrical.
They say that this was always the case also with their historical pieces.

The silkscreened monogram is not a manual printing process by the look of it. Not like Goyard or Fauré Le Page that has this charming inconsistency in the print.
I personally love the Reflective Jacquard as it is a contemporary take on a historic monogram where they weave a reflective thread into the fabric.


I always get questions from people about the brand and I quite like to have something different from anybody else on the street.
Not so sure about how big of a success the brand is at the moment as it seems that by now they only sell through their own webshop I think. What is interesting is that indeed you can find some great pieces online at interesting prices. In case you want to be able to resell your bags you might wanna think twice.

Both Moynat and Au Départ were relaunched by Luvanis investment group.
Of course now LVMH Bernard Arnault acquired Moynat so they have a stronger group behind them. Au Départ was only relaunched in 2019 and then Covid hit. Who knows what the brand will do in the coming years but it also took Moynat some time to gain marketshare.

Would be interested to hear anybody else about their experience or views!
Thank you so much for the detailed review. It’s all very helpful. I discovered the brand reading about Moynat. Covid could have severely affected their roll-out and that’s terrible for them.

I love that it’s a low key brand. One of the biggest reasons most of my bags are Moreau and Loewe is because no one around here knows what it is. I’ll definitely keep an eye out for their bags. I just went a little Loewe crazy for my birthday.
 
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