Delphine Delafon

A French-American designer and Parisian at heart, Delphine Delafon grew up under the influence of the artists around her. Passionate about working with leather and materials, she created her eponymous brand in 2010. A pioneer, she opened a manufacturing workshop in the center of Paris and offers her customers, in addition to her flagship models like the renowned eyelet bucket bag, custom creations according to their desires. A free spirit and passionate, she constantly navigates between her designer friends and her own projects. This is how she reconnects with her iconic bags in 2021. Today, Delphine Delafon goes further in her desire to slow down the production of new products and entrusts us with her archives at low prices as well as some iconic bags in discovery offer.

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BAGS ARE MADE WITH MATERIALS REJECTED BY THE LUXURY INDUSTRY
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SUPPLIERS ARE PARISIAN
2012

DELPHINE DECIDES TO KEEP MANUFACTURING IN-HOUSE TO AVOID "INDUSTRIALIZING" PRODUCTION

"I was often approached by people who encouraged me to prioritize profit over values, and I could never accept this way of working."

Can you introduce Delphine Delafon to us in your own words?

DELPHINE : It's a brand that bears my name but also my values. I never worked there as a marketing argument but things always happened on their own as I refused to make concessions. I was often approached by people who encouraged me to prioritize profit over values and I could never accept this way of working. It was never part of a radicalism on my part but rather a natural desire to follow my desires and to keep the way I like to work as DNA and as a primary value. What I love above all is manual work, that's why all the bags that come out of my house are different, unique but nevertheless accessible and made at home.

What is your background, what led you to launch this project?

Delphine : I come from a clothing background and I think that shows in my bags and the way they are made. There is nothing academic in the way they are made or thought out. That's what makes them a little different, I hope.
When I was making clothes, it was always leather that attracted me, the materials, the textures, the metalwork. I made dresses mixed with leather and fabric, sometimes with metal pieces on them.
For DD, I never thought about “launching” anything, it was my first customers who really initiated the start of the brand and adhered to what I was offering.
In 2017, after 8 years, I decided to put my company on hold, which was growing too quickly (and badly) because I could no longer keep up, either morally or financially. At that point, I lost my name. I became a consultant for emerging brands (Marcia, Martin Martin, Cordiz, Becane and others). I help develop collections on all aspects that this includes (production, pricing, suppliers, design and sometimes strategy).
I also regularly create models for “friendly” brands (Gas Bijoux, Ba&sh, Françoise and others).
I operate mainly on instinct, which has often played tricks on me, but the result is ultimately rewarding because I've been doing what I love for 20 years.
Today I regained the use of my name thanks to a lawyer I didn't know who called me one day (I think of her every day ;) ).
So I resumed my design activity in my own name and once again I work in a completely artisanal way.
I feel closer to a painter than to a designer who works in an industry, for example.

What is your favorite Delphine Delafon piece?

DELPHINE : Too difficult, it changes all the time.
However, I have a passion for metal pieces (chains, buckles, eyelets, etc.) which always come back.
I also released a capsule collection of leather clothing for Delphine Delafon in 2017 and I have a lot of “fetishes” in this collection - bell-bottom pants in red lambskin or lace-up boots with a wooden heel.
Right now, if I had to choose a bag, it would be the Honey Bunny in its neon pink version, the “Honey Love”.

What is your creative process? What inspires you?

DELPHINE : What inspires me is a mix of materials, textures and colors, the old or the vintage side (which has a history). But it can be just a leather of a certain color found at a supplier or a color combo seen in an image. I have a weakness for things with a vintage look because I grew up in “the old”.
As for a possible process, I work by lists.
I hang them above my desk, on my fridge, in diaries or notebooks. I write down the bags I plan to make or the material compositions (“pink grained, gray velvet/black leather mix, etc.). It’s probably strange when you have an artistic job not to do it with images but rather with words, but I have enough images in my head and I need to order them while writing.

What are your earliest memories of clothing?

Delphine : Like many little girls, my mother and grandmother. Photos. I come from a family of women, a real matriarchy. So I have a lot of photos of my grandmother, great-grandmother, but also of my mother and her sisters in the 70s. They all had style.

Who are your style icons?

Delphine : Chloé Sevigny, Laure Adler, for me, style isn't about wearing a particular skirt with a particular pair of shoes; it's about intelligence, ideas, and uniqueness. An unusual personality, that's style.
Patti Smith, Simone Veil, Niki de Saint Phalle, Nina Simone. I'm a huge fan of Tina Turner, Simone Signoret, and Marilyn!

How do you draw inspiration from vintage to create your collections?

Delphine : I don't have a defined process, it's a matter of luck, I'm always fascinated by creators who manage to describe their creative process.
I find that when you're creative, it happens to you all the time, at any moment. It would be so convenient if you could choose your moments and your "process."
For vintage, it can start from anything that catches your eye, a buckle, a pattern or a color combination.

What do you think about the carbon impact of fashion today?

DELPHINE :I think that "greenwashing" is definitely present in fashion. And for good reason, it's among the most polluting industries. Everyone tries to justify themselves with bogus marketing arguments, but in reality, if you're really worried about the fate of the planet, the best thing to do is to do something else. I'm talking about brands that practice fashion on an industrial scale - luxury included. Who boast about making vegan leather, for example, when it consumes millions of liters of water and ultimately this leather, as much as the bag made with it, will be sent by express air transport in 2 days to the other side of the world. As for small designers, for the most part, the impact is less significant, that's for sure. But overall, I'm tired of the "green" speeches from brands.

As far as I'm concerned, I manage to live more or less with my conscience, I produce on demand, I produce in Paris and I buy my leathers there.

But the decision-makers and those in power are not undertaking any reforms in the direction of ecology. It is the small ones who must each bear responsibilities at their own level, while in comparison their impact is tiny. Everyone knows that nothing will change like that. By blaming the small one who does what he can and letting the "big ones" do what they want for economic reasons. Far be it from me to make grand speeches, but I think I behave in a not too bad way in a world in crisis, I rarely take the plane, I travel by bike, I sort my waste, I work locally.

Unfortunately, we can all do this until the end of our days, but if industrialists, governments and large companies do not change, nothing will change.

It's quite sad, but I have more confidence in the younger generations who grew up with these problems, unlike the old ones who govern us.

What are your brand's values? What do these pieces tell and offer to the women who wear them?

DELPHINE : I'd like my brand values to reflect a more modern idea of "luxury." It's about moving away from the expensive monogrammed bag and focusing more on the ability to choose. Knowing where and by whom it's made, all at an affordable price. It's about being more fundamental and more human.

How and where do you produce?

DELPHINE : Paris, Paris, Paris. In my studio - always.
I've been working like this for over 15 years, long before it was fashionable or a marketing argument for brands.
I work this way because that's how I like to do it and that's how I see meaning in it.

An eco-friendly brand or initiative that inspires you for Delphine Delafon?

DELPHINE : I find that the new generations of creators have more sustainable thinking, which is reassuring.
I liked when Marine Serre recycled scarves for her clothes, I also know that she produces locally.
Let's say that without "inspiring" me, certain initiatives sometimes take away some of my worries and light a tiny glimmer of hope.

"I operate mainly on instinct, which has often played tricks on me, but the result is ultimately rewarding because I've been doing what I love for 20 years."