fashion / designer and luxury

LVMH Métiers d’Art Partners With Celebrity-favorite Accessories Brand Aupen

Aupen will shift its entire production base to France.

Aupen's customer experience associate Nadia Rosli, Aupen's production associate Darrell Kong, chief brand officer of LVMH Métiers d’Art Giuseppe Panico and marketing associate of LVMH Métiers d’Art Caterina Cosima Masoni. COURTESY OF AUPEN

Aupen, the buzzy fashion accessories brand worn by celebrities such as Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, Hailey Bieber, Jennifer Lawrence and Kylie Jenner, has formed a partnership with LVMH Métiers d’Art, as part of its plan to shift its entire production base to France.

Founded in November 2022, Aupen paused its production in May, keeping its sales and customer service operational to follow up with after care sales, refunds or returns.

The brand makes eco-luxury bags retailing from $180 to $420 and had also expanded into jewelry and calfskin leather bags. Its bags, which have developed a celebrity following, have featured names such as Joy, Purpose, Lover and Nirvana.

Emma Roberts with an Aupen Joy bag in scarlet COURTESY OF AUPEN

As part of the new strategic partnership, LVMH Métiers d’Art will provide Aupen with advisory and access to its best-in-class French production facilities that it fully owns, including farms, tanneries and metal work companies. This will ensure that future Aupen products will adhere to Made in France quality standards.

Aupen has recently begun product development with several wholly owned LVMH entities — Tanneries Roux, the oldest French tannery founded in 1803, whose clients include Hermès and Louis Vuitton, and Jade Groupe, whose clients include Chanel and Schiaparelli. A quality control system will be implemented for Aupen, guaranteeing continued attention to detail for the future.

Aupen has begun product development with Tanneries Roux, a wholly owned LVMH entity. COURTESY OF AUPEN

This collaboration marks a significant milestone for Aupen’s supply chain journey, as it pivots its production base to France.

Aupen’s first designs with LVMH Métiers d’Art will drop from spring 2025 in January at aupen.com.

“With this Made in France relaunch, Aupen products will reflect a new modernity, representing our core brand pillars of craftsmanship, integrity and innovation,” a spokesperson for Aupen said.

According to a statement from LVMH Métiers d’Art, “Aupen’s bold designs prioritize traceability and transparency, ensuring every creation resonates with conscientious luxury consumers. By tracing the journey of materials used, they appeal to evolving tastes while setting ethical standards in the luxury market.”

Aupen, which is based in Singapore, is preparing to establish an office in Paris. Its leadership team continues to remain secretive.

Aupen posted on its Instagram page in May: “After 18 months, Aupen Design Collective Bids Goodbye. For us, the time has come. Life is for living. Joy makes us human. We don’t want to look back and regret the time lost with family, smelling the flowers. We started with nothing. But with determination and perseverance, we knew our efforts wouldn’t go unnoticed.”

The company confirmed to WWD that its design team took a break on May 10. They received interest from multiple luxury and private equity groups. “Ultimately, we decide to partner with LVMH Métiers dArt. The partnership does not involve any equity, allowing us to remain independent without external ownership. This also granted access to best-in-class ateliers, a benefit that would have been difficult to achieve” without the partnership, a spokesperson said.

Aupen has yet to start up the business. Only already launched designs will be sold in the meantime. “Over the last two weeks, the Aupen and LVMH Métiers d’Art team had convened to finalize the details of their new partnership. “We will executive on the new plan for the second half of 2024 and aim to make new products available in 2025,” a spokesperson said.

This article was sincerely referred from WOMEN'S WEAR DAILY
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