Au Départ builds momentum internationally, shows travel line in Orient Express train

By

Ambria Destout

Published
Oct 23, 2021

In an iconic travel setting, Orient Express and Au Départ showed off their chic partnership collection this week inside a luxury passenger carriage parked in the Gare d’Austerlitz, as the luggage brand gathers momentum in France and abroad.

Entitled Orient Express X Au Départ, the partnership blends the two brands love of Art Deco in creating a collection of travel bags, lounge trunks, candle trunks, and other travel items. All based on Au Départ's primary geometric pattern inspired by the floors of Pompeii, though colored in Orient Express's signature midnight blue.
 
"The uniqueness of the collection is how it brings back stories born in the 19th century and transported into the journey of tomorrow," said Gianfranco Maccarone, CEO of Au Départ.

The presentation comes after a busy period for Au Départ, which has seen the label open a corner in the high-tech of Harrods, offering an array of cabinets and cases for speakers and DJ mixing tables. While in the French capital, the brand developed an exclusive collection for pets with the Hotel de Crillon. Further afield, Au Départ has a collab’ with the most famous hotel in St Tropez, the Byblos, with leather goods in the tiny inn’s famed orange colors. Back in Paris, the collaboration is a part of the Orient Express's Steam Dream line, a limited-edition of travel-related items created in partnership with 18 well-respected creators and artisans.

 
The Orient Express is best known for connecting Western Europe to the Orient in the famous train journey from Paris to Istanbul; however, it is expanding its horizons beyond rail service. Their latest endeavor, Steam Dream, is a part of their efforts to meet every possible demand in the art of travel. Adding to yet another product diversification, the brand is returning to the hotel sector with plans to open a hotel in Rome in late 2023.

 
The luggage collaboration marked the first official collab’ for Au Départ, which, alongside Louis Vuitton, Goyard, and Moynat, was a pioneer in trunkmaking when the craft was at its peak. Founded in 1834, the house’s fans include Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, the famed author and aviator, for whom it designed his monogrammed travel case. Despite its historic success, the brand stopped production in 1976 and lay dormant for 40 years before being rebooted by investors in 2019.
 
All 18 collaborations of the Steam Dream collection are available in a massive 250 square meter pop-up shop on the bottom floor of La Samaritaine and on Orientexpress.com.