FANE
Simply elegant.
Chatting with Laurie-Anne Braun and Margot Baudequin, founders of Fane —a new French line of discreetly elegant handbags— seemed like a casual conversation between friends rather than a fashion interview. The pair joined me on a Zoom call from their apartments in France to talk about how the brand was born, their sources of inspiration, and what the future holds for the line.
As I joined the call I was worried my poor knowledge of the French language would butcher the name of the brand. When I asked how it was pronounced, they both laughed and said I could pronounce it as I wanted. “ There’s no wrong or right pronunciation” - Laurie-Anne said. “We chose it because we wanted something short, that would be easy to pronounce in any language, it is a very neutral name and we wanted people to project whatever they wanted onto it”.
Laurie-Anne had the idea of creating FANE when she was working as a sales assistant at A.P. C. She was looking for a job and couldn’t find anything that sparked joy in her, so she thought maybe the solution lay in creating something of her own. “Since I was a little kid I’ve been fascinated with handbags, I have a huge collection, so I realized that maybe I needed to have a brand of my own”. She explains. It was later that Margot joined the venture. They work on everything together while simultaneously complementing each other as Laurie-Anne has a background in business, while Margot's talents rest on the more creative side.
The conceptualizing, design process and production of the bags took around 3 years. “ We didn’t know anything about making handbags, we are not designers, so everything was new to us,” Laurie-Anne says. “ Our school was our brand, we had to find an atelier, research leather, and design the bags. It was a very long way to get the results that we wanted”. They explain.
A lot can change in 3 years, and that’s exactly what happened with Laurie-Anne and Margot’s taste. “When we came up with the idea, we wanted to create bags that were more trendy, a bit on the younger side, but as we got older we realized that we wanted to create something timeless,” Margot says. “Even a bit boring, because we love boring”. She says laughing.
As they were designed the bags two things became important: since the bags needed to be timeless, there could be no logo on the outside, the design needed to be strong enough to make them identifiable; and there would be no hardware on the bags, including zippers or buckles. All of the bags close with hidden magnets, which makes them incredibly practical.
Eventually, they came up with their ideal designs and found the perfect small atelier in the South of France that could create their handbags just as they envisioned. The brand finally launched in October 2020 with its 3 signature bags: the Bra bag, the Lisse bag, and the Mie bag (my personal favorite). The Bra bag is a simple baguette bar, it earned its name because the stitches at the bottom mimic the stitches found on the cups of a bra, it is their best seller. The Lisse bag is a simple everyday tote, and the Mie bag, (a squared bag) was inspired by the shape of Pain de Mie - or soft bread in English.
When I asked about their creative process and inspirations Margot shared a funny story: “I used to hate handbags, I would only use totes when I needed to carry things, I used to sew hidden pockets on the inside of my coats to avoid wearing a bag, and now I carry mine everywhere I go”, she says. “So part of the challenge with FANE was to design a bag that Margot would wear”. Laurie-Anne explains. “We created what we would wear, and what we weren’t able to find in the market”. She says.
“A bag can either complement or ruin an outfit, we wanted to create pieces that would go in harmony with what we wear: organic and simple shapes. A handbag cannot overpower the outfit, from the shape to the color.” Margot says. “We all like catchy colors, they are seductive but when you buy a bag in a bright color you either end up not wearing it because it doesn’t go with your clothes or you get bored of it”. She explains.
Every color and material that the FANE designers use is carefully curated and researched. It needs to be simple and long-lasting. “ We swatch all of the colors with our clothes and on different complexions to make sure it looks as good on the clothes as it looks on the skin and with your hair color,” Margot says. “It is also important to mention that our bags are pretty rigid, we see them as wearable structures, so we also focus on proportion”. Laurie-Anne says. “ The wrong proportion on a handbag can ruin everything. The length of the straps and the size of the bag need to look good on every type of body: short, tall, skinny or on the bigger side”.
Their meticulous design and clear aesthetic allowed the pair to create a brand that would attract any type of client. From a 60-year-old woman with a classic style to a 25-year-old girl who focuses on trends. Their bags have even been worn by celebrities like Kendall Jenner and Hailey Beiber, something they can’t quite believe. “ They have a million handbags and choose to wear ours, which is hard to believe ”. Laurie-Anne says.
As a relatively new brand, Laurie-Anne and Margot are currently focusing on creating brand awareness through curated wholesale partners like SSNSE and growing their direct sales through their website. “We still don’t have an office and have jobs on the side so we hope in the next year we can get an intern and an office with a showroom so people can come to see the bags or maybe do click and collect,” Laurie-Anne said when I asked about their plans for the future.
They will soon be adding two new bags to their collection. During the fall a bigger version of the Bra bag will be launching, which we will be able to wear as a crossbody. It is the first bag on the line that will come out in black leather, something they are very excited about. In summer 2023 a tote bag big enough to fit a laptop will be available to shop, which is something they both realized the collection was missing.
IG: @fane.officiel