FRENCH REVOLUTION
Parisian designer Jérôme Dreyfuss's expanded menswear designer is now making it big in America.
At the tail end of August, that beloved and practically official month-long holiday in France, most Parisians can be found clinging to the seaside. Jérôme Dreyfuss, however, is toiling away in his studio in the center of the city, putting the finishing touches on the 10 to 15 new bag styles he designs every season. “We’re being copied a lot, so the only answer we can give to the people who try to do what we do is to be super creative,” he explains.
The leather goods impresario began his career as a ready-to-wear designer before a gaggle of female friends, including his then-girlfriend (now wife), womenswear designer Isabel Marant, started complaining to him that they couldn’t find any decent bags without huge logos. “I said, ‘OK, I’m going to make them,’” he says. “A few days later, I created some while I was cutting dresses, and they were totally supple and super light. Ten years later, we’re selling thousands of pieces a season.”
Even though Dreyfuss fully insists that his women’s bag business “started as a joke,” its success is anything but. Luckily for guys everywhere, he is now bringing the same sensibilities to a men’s collection of totes, duffels, and cross-bodies that are as functional as they are aesthetically pleasing. This collection also began as a gift for friends. “I have a really strong crew of guys—one is a ballet dancer at the Opéra, another is a photographer, and the third is a soccer player,” he explains. “I always said I wasn’t interested in making men’s bags, but when the four of us were at dinner, they insisted so strongly that I finally said, ‘Fine,’ and I made a different one for each. Then girls at the office said, ‘We must sell them!’ So we did.”
Dreyfuss is known for his materials, especially the smooth calfskin and durable canvas that are the foundation of many of his designs. But he’s also famous for the humorous little touches—like a flashlight attached to an interior—that were directly inspired by his friends and family. The story behind the flashlight? “We have a house in the countryside with no electricity, and when we arrive late on Friday nights, I am carrying my son, who’s asleep, while my wife tries to find her keys in the dark,” he explains. “I’m just trying to make life easier and more fun.”
Dreyfuss and Marant’s son, Tal, is another key element of the operation: When you click on a bag on Dreyfuss’s website, its name is announced in Tal’s voice. “He’s 10 years old now, and he says, ‘Papa, I work for you, so you must pay me,’” says Dreyfuss with a laugh. “Every two names, he gets one euro.” Each style is given a male moniker: The Bernard is a slouchy but laptop-friendly cross-body, while the Arnaud is a duffle with a detachable strap (and bottle opener, should you BYOB). They’re gaining such traction on American shores, in fact, that Dreyfuss has opened his own store in New York’s SoHo neighborhood. “When I go in, I still don’t believe it is my store,” he admits. “It’s my American dream.” It’s conveniently located just down the street from his wife’s New York flagship. “She is one of my biggest inspirations,” he says, before pausing—a proverbial wink. “But there is never any competition between two lovers.”