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Heimstone

A Franco-American designer and Parisian at heart, Delphine Delafon grew up influenced by the artists around her. Passionate about working with leather and materials, she created her eponymous brand in 2010. As a precursor, she opened a manufacturing workshop in central Paris and offers her customers, in addition to her flagship models such as the renowned eyelet bucket bag, tailor-made creations to suit their desires. A free and passionate electron, she is constantly navigating between her designer friends and her own projects. In 2021, she returned to her iconic bags. Today, Delphine Delafon is going one step further in her desire to slow down the production of new products, and is entrusting us with her archives at low prices, as well as a few iconic bags as part of a discovery offer. I hope to hear from you soon!

  • 100%
    OF BAGS ARE MADE FROM MATERIALS REJECTED BY THE LUXURY INDUSTRY
  • 100%
    OF SUPPLIERS ARE PARIS-BASED
  • 2012
    THE YEAR I DECIDED TO KEEP MANUFACTURING IN-HOUSE BY HAND

Delphine Delafon's community

https://delphinedelafon.com/

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

Can you give us a brief introduction to Delphine Delafon ?

DELPHINE : It's a brand that bears my name but also my values. I've never worked on it as a marketing pitch, but things have always taken care of themselves as I refused to make concessions. I was often approached by people who encouraged me to put profit before values, and I could never accept that way of working. I've never been radical about it either, but it's more like a natural desire to follow my desires and keep the way I like to work as my DNA and as my primary value. What I love most of all is working by hand, and that's why all the bags that come out of my workshop are different, unique, but still accessible and made in my own workshop.

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

DELPHINE : I come from a clothing background and I think that's reflected in my bags and the way they're made. There's nothing academic about the way they're made or the way they're thought. That's what makes them a bit different I hope.
When I was making clothes, it was always leather that attracted me, the materials, the textures, the metalwork. I used to make mixed leather/fabric dresses, sometimes with metal parts on top.
For DD, I never thought of ‘launching’ anything; it was my first customers who really got the brand off the ground and bought into what I was offering. In 2017, after 8 years, I decided to put my company on hold because it was growing too fast (and badly) and I couldn't 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 them develop their collections in all aspects (production, pricing, suppliers, design and sometimes strategy). I also regularly create designs for ‘friend’ brands (Gas Bijoux, Ba&sh, Françoise and others).
I work mainly on instinct, which has often played tricks on me, but the result is rewarding in the end because I've been doing what I love for 20 years.

What's your favourite Delphine Delafon piece?

DELPHINE : Too difficult, it changes all the time.
I do, however, have a passion for metallic pieces (chains, buckles, eyelets, etc) which always come back.
I also released a capsule of leather clothes for Delphine Delafon in 2017 and I have a lot of ‘fetishes’ in that collection - a pair of red lambskin trousers or lace-up boots with a wooden heel.
At the moment, if I had to choose a bag, it would be the Honey Bunny in its neon pink version, the ‘Honey Love’.

Can you give us a brief introduction to Delphine Delafon ?

DELPHINE : It's a brand that bears my name but also my values. I've never worked on it as a marketing pitch, but things have always taken care of themselves as I refused to make concessions. I was often approached by people who encouraged me to put profit before values, and I could never accept that way of working. I've never been radical about it either, but it's more like a natural desire to follow my desires and keep the way I like to work as my DNA and as my primary value. What I love most of all is working by hand, and that's why all the bags that come out of my workshop are different, unique, but still accessible and made in my own workshop.

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

DELPHINE : I come from a clothing background and I think that's reflected in my bags and the way they're made. There's nothing academic about the way they're made or the way they're thought. That's what makes them a bit different I hope.
When I was making clothes, it was always leather that attracted me, the materials, the textures, the metalwork. I used to make mixed leather/fabric dresses, sometimes with metal parts on top.
For DD, I never thought of ‘launching’ anything; it was my first customers who really got the brand off the ground and bought into what I was offering. In 2017, after 8 years, I decided to put my company on hold because it was growing too fast (and badly) and I couldn't 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 them develop their collections in all aspects (production, pricing, suppliers, design and sometimes strategy). I also regularly create designs for ‘friend’ brands (Gas Bijoux, Ba&sh, Françoise and others).
I work mainly on instinct, which has often played tricks on me, but the result is rewarding in the end because I've been doing what I love for 20 years.

What's your favourite Delphine Delafon piece?

DELPHINE : Too difficult, it changes all the time.
I do, however, have a passion for metallic pieces (chains, buckles, eyelets, etc) which always come back.
I also released a capsule of leather clothes for Delphine Delafon in 2017 and I have a lot of ‘fetishes’ in that collection - a pair of red lambskin trousers or lace-up boots with a wooden heel.
At the moment, 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 colours, the old or the vintage (which has a history). But it could just be a skin of a certain colour that I came across at a supplier's or a colour combo seen in an image. I have a soft spot for things with a vintage look because I grew up in the ‘old’.
As for a possible process, I work in 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’, ‘grey velvet/black leather mix’, etc). It's probably strange when you do 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 by writing.

What are your earliest memories of clothes?

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

What are your style icons?

DELPHINE : Chloé Sevigny, Laure Adler, style for me isn't about wearing this skirt with that pair of shoes, it's about intelligence, ideas and uniqueness. An unusual personality, that has 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 all a bit haphazard, and I'm always fascinated by designers who manage to describe their creative process.
I find that when you're creative it happens all the time, at any moment. It would be so convenient if you could choose your moments and your ‘process’.
Vintage can start with anything that catches your eye, a loop, a pattern or a colour combination.

What are the values of your brand? What do these pieces say and offer to the women who wear them?

DELPHINE: I'd like my brand values to reflect a more modern idea of ‘luxury’. One that tries to move away from the very expensive monogrammed bag and instead focuses on the way in which you can choose. Knowing where and by whom it's made, all at an affordable price. It's more about the basics and something more human.

How and where do you produce?

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

Is there an eco-brand or initiative that inspires you about Delphine Delafon?

DELPHINE: I find that new generations of designers are thinking more sustainably, which is reassuring.
I liked it when Marine Serre recycled scarves for her clothes, and I also know that she produces locally.
Let's just say that without ‘inspiring’ me, certain initiatives sometimes take away some of my worries and give me a glimmer of hope.

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

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