Leather through the Longue Vue

When fashion brands launch magazines, it can feel a bit predictable. Another extension of the brand, another piece of marketing content. But every now and then, one lands that feels deserving of shelf space in an indie art book shop. 

That’s the case with Longue Vue, a new coffee table publication from Polène, released to mark the brand’s tenth anniversary. Founded in 2016 by three siblings, the Paris-based leather goods label has built a following for its exquisitely crafted bags and accessories. Indeed, the brand has become something of a viral sensation with stores - themselves impressive feats of design - seeing queues around the block. What makes Polène unique is its dedication to local production; leather is exclusively sourced from certified tanneries in Spain and Italy, while the manufacturing process is entrusted to artisans and craftsmen from the Spanish town of Ubrique.

Polène’s thoughtful and collaborative approach to design is bottled up in Longue Vue, which, by the way, isn’t a one-off - from hereon, there will be annual editions. The theme of this first issue is Play of Perspectives, which brings together a mix of artists and thinkers to look at scale, from the microscopic details to the macroscopic vision. An introduction by Italian philosopher Emanuele Coccia - who sees fashion as the Trojan horse that allows art to enter life - sets the tone of the following pages, which are filled with essays, fiction passages, photographic works and illustrations, plus some notes from the founders. 

To launch it, Polène has set up a “Leather Stationery” pop-in at its Regent Street Flagship store. It presents a small run of stationery inspired by the magazine’s theme, including optical illusion-esque woven leather notebook covers, mini notebooks and squeezy paint tubes fashioned into delightful charms, and adorable origami stickers crafted from the leather scraps. Visitors can personalise notebook covers on-site, with artisans on the premises every day to hand-weave the edges and emboss the covers with an emblem exclusively designed for London.

This collection, like everything at Polène, is reasonably priced. When you take into account the quality of the materials and design, and the fact that production isn’t outsourced to countries where labour is woefully cheap, a large tote for under £450 or notebook for £90 is quite remarkable. This can’t be said for many brands. The Longue Vue, which means telescope, speaks volumes about the conscious, inquisitive place from which Polène was born.

The Polène Leather Stationery pop-in is open until April 18, at 74-76 Regent Street.