Longchamp and [Ai]magination reinvent narrative luxury on TikTok in the age of AI

28 Apr 2025

How can an iconic house like Longchamp embrace new territories of expression without losing its soul? Through a unique creative project on TikTok , Sophie Delafontaine, Artistic Director of Longchamp, and Frédéric Raillard, Founder and CEO of [Ai]magination , share their perspectives on the hybridization of heritage and innovation, craftsmanship and artificial intelligence.

Together, they recount a co-creation process where Parisian chic dialogues with the platforms' native narratives, and where AI becomes a sensitive ally rather than a simple tool.

Luxury Journal
How do you strike a balance between the elegance of Longchamp heritage and TikTok culture without descending into pastiche?

Frédéric Raillard
The key is not to force the connection. When a brand like Longchamp enters TikTok, it's not about disguising itself or imposing a brand aesthetic on a platform that operates by different rules.

Our job was to listen to what TikTok can reveal, not neutralize it . Longchamp's Parisian chic, its connection to movement, to the energy of the city, fit surprisingly well with the platform's native language—as long as it's not caricatured. So we looked for a productive tension: keeping control of the tone, injecting playfulness without falling into heavy-handed winks.

The elegance here is knowing how far to go without betraying yourself.

Sophie Delafontaine
What matters most to me is accuracy. Longchamp's elegance doesn't come from a fixed posture but from a balance between groundedness and freedom. On TikTok, we're not trying to 'fit the mold,' but to play with our own vocabulary —in a new context.

The tone is lighter, the pace faster, but the perspective remains ours. The challenge is to remain faithful to the spirit of the house while allowing ourselves to breathe differently.

Luxury Journal
How to capture and then translate Longchamp’s DNA into a social-native language?

Frédéric Raillard
Our starting point is always to listen deeply to the brand's universe. At Longchamp, there is an idea of ​​lightness , urban freedom, a style that doesn't take itself seriously. We don't seek to translate all of this literally, but to extract emotional constants: a gesture, an allure, a spirit.

Then, we activate this material with TikTok's own narrative tools—repetition, surprise, cuts, fragmented narration. It's not formatting, it's re-semantization. AI comes next as a visual interpretation tool : it helps us create stylized fictions, composite characters, dreamlike situations. We talk about AI-first, but the technology never comes before the tone or the gaze.


Sophie Delafontaine
[Ai]magination understood that the DNA of a house can be read in the details: a fold, a texture, a silhouette in motion. The work was not to simplify or literally 'translate' our universe, but to extract its dynamics: mobility, carefreeness, that everyday elegance that is part of our history.

The dialogue between our teams made it possible to construct a coherent, yet reinvented, visual language—more spontaneous, more narrative, without getting lost.

Luxury Journal
As AI invades stories, how can we preserve creative singularity?

Frédéric Raillard
AI isn't a magic wand. It's a language. And like any language, it can drift toward uniformity if misused. At [Ai]magination, our obsession is to avoid generic content—even (and especially) when it's generative. AI shouldn't smooth over brand identity; it should stretch it, reveal it in new ways. This requires strong creative direction, aesthetic rigor, and, above all, a narrative framework that precedes the machine.

It is in this rigor that we avoid the 'content' effect. Interchangeable AI. When used well, AI is tailor-made, not ready-to-publish.

Sophie Delafontaine
AI is fascinating because of the fields of exploration it opens up. But it doesn't replace vision or intuition. For me, what makes a house unique is its point of view. The tool may vary, but the intention remains. We used AI not to erase our aesthetic, but to inject a form of dream. It's a way to express the founding elements of our style in a different way. The important thing is that it remains embodied.

If the machine suggests, it is always the human eye that decides.

Luxury Journal
Can we innovate with AI while respecting creative professions?

Sophie Delafontaine
I deeply believe in the hand. In the hand that draws, that adjusts, that corrects.

At Longchamp, we've always had this culture of gesture, of thoughtfully designed objects, carefully constructed. Innovation isn't dangerous if it serves this requirement. What this project shows is that it's possible to create with AI without losing sensitivity or creative intent. We shouldn't oppose worlds, but connect them.

Frédéric Raillard
AI should be an extension of the range of possibilities for creators, not a threat. What we do at [Ai]magination isn't about producing faster or cheaper—it's about offering other forms, other temporalities, other narratives. There's work behind every video: art direction, sound design, visual writing. We're not replacing anyone; we're recombining teams.

And luxury houses have a key role here: they can choose responsible experimentation, valuing the hand, the intention, the sensitivity.

Luxury Journal
Does the future of luxury lie in storytelling rather than storytelling?

Frédéric Raillard
Yes, clearly. Luxury today is no longer just contemplated; it is experienced, shared, and interpreted. Story feeling—the idea of ​​emotion triggered by a brand universe—is more powerful than a linear narrative. Especially in short, immersive, and ephemeral formats. What an AI-first approach allows is to create atmospheres, signs, and micro-fictions that engage audiences without having to explain everything. We're no longer selling a story; we're creating a sensation.

Sophie Delafontaine
What I like about this format is that it doesn't try to say everything. It evokes. It provokes a sensation, a mental image, sometimes a smile. It's not a demonstration; it's an encounter.

Today's luxury, in my opinion, must be able to create these moments of resonance—intimate, brief, but memorable. Longchamp isn't a speech; it's a lifestyle, an energy. That's what we want to convey.