&nbsp;It&rsquo;s an evolution.&nbsp;

How did the transformation of the brand from a gunsmith company to a luxury fashion brand come about? I see it as&nbsp;an evolution more than a transformation. We&rsquo;ve always wanted to create long-lasting products which essentially provide continuity to history. Although Faur&eacute; Le Page started as a gunsmith company, we were also engaged in the production of leather goods used for firearms &mdash; and over time, we basically chose to maintain the leather production part and not the other. You must constantly be ready to reinvent yourself, or you will risk becoming irrelevant. That&rsquo;s very true. What were some of the challenges that you faced during the evolution of the brand? You know, when you feel excited when faced with a challenge, it&rsquo;s not a challenge. That&rsquo;s why I don&rsquo;t see challenges as such. First and foremost, you should know that I am not alone. People tend to think and believe that all the ideas are from me, but that&rsquo;s not true. I&rsquo;m constantly exchanging information and ideas with my team. After I&rsquo;ve sketched a bag on paper, I begin a dialogue with the craftsman. There are continuous conversations, and I just so happen to be in all of them.

How does French craftsmanship impact your design philosophy at the brand? I believe, living in Paris, you are always inspired; you only have to look around to be inspired. Plus, I spend my time at museums, exhibitions and auction houses, as well as, you know, because of my upbringing, I&rsquo;m very sensitive to history. I remember in my grandparents&rsquo; living room, there was an African statue next to a 19th-century artwork, and that was perfectly normal. I appreciate having diverse experiences.&nbsp; That brings me to the subject of how you integrate the historical characteristics of French craftsmanship into current design. Maintaining a delicate balance is always important. It&rsquo;s a good idea to start by looking at the archives even when you should be moving and looking forward. It&rsquo;s almost like you need to have one eye in the back and one in the front. And that&rsquo;s why we put a tree in most of our stores. You need the roots in the soil to grow.

What strategies are you using to expand the brand globally while maintaining its exclusivity? That&rsquo;s an excellent question. I ask myself this question all the time. I believe that if you follow your passion and the DNA of the brand, you&rsquo;re on the right path. This is why we are in Kuala Lumpur. We&rsquo;re really thrilled to be working with Valiram. Indeed, our success stems from our effective communication and mutual sense of collaboration.
I believe this is also true when we work with craftsmen to create our collection. It&rsquo;s all about passion. We&rsquo;re a completely private family company, so we don&rsquo;t need to sprint, so to speak. We don&rsquo;t care about the stock exchange. And since Faur&eacute; Le Page isn't intended to be everywhere, I am extremely pleased with its uniqueness, especially considering our limited stock. Training a craftsman takes more than two years, and we have no plans to increase our production capacity. Sustainability is a big part of the fashion world today. How does Faur&eacute; Le Page incorporate sustainability into your production process while ensuring the durability of your products? We know exactly where each material comes from. This is because we are small, and so we&rsquo;re able to pinpoint the exact origin of our leather. All the hues we use are natural. I think the most effective approach is to produce fewer products &mdash; when we create seasonal items, they&rsquo;re produced in limited quantities &mdash; while trying to make them long-lasting at the same time. This is crucial to us.

How important is customer feedback to the brand?&nbsp; This is another ongoing conversation. Sometimes, I&rsquo;d spend an hour a day at our boutiques in Paris, but I wouldn&rsquo;t introduce myself to anyone. I&rsquo;m just there to listen to what people are talking about our products in the store. Instant and upfront &mdash; that&rsquo;s how I prefer to receive customer feedback. So they do influence your creations.&nbsp; Yes and no. To provide something meaningful, we must look at who we are as a brand and who our audience is. For instance, we have never offered a gun-shaped bag because that&rsquo;d be ridiculous, and there&rsquo;s no &mdash; and most probably will never be &mdash; demand in this sort of shape.
Fundamentally, it&rsquo;s more of an offer strategy. We design products that evoke a sense of surprise and excitement among our clients. We&rsquo;re releasing a new leather line that we&rsquo;ve been working on for five years. So yes, we only introduce a product when it&rsquo;s truly ready which involves constant designing and prototyping until we get it right. I love the fact that we take time with our products.

Where do you see the brand going in, say, the next 10 years in terms of innovation and market presence? Well, I believe we will continue to experiment while preserving our exclusivity. We will only open one boutique per country; I think this is a great idea to open one or two stores, and that&rsquo;s all. 
I&rsquo;m really happy to be working with the brilliant architect Jean de Gastines. There is a type of environment that we build together for the boutiques and I&rsquo;m quite proud of the result. I like how it blends the indoor and outdoor into a single space. And it&rsquo;s why you have this flower-filled carpet. As you can tell, the connection with nature is really important to me. I&rsquo;m as excited about our products as I&rsquo;m about our boutiques.&nbsp;
One of my mottos is: Be expected where you&rsquo;re unexpected and unexpected where you are expected. If there&rsquo;s one thing you want to tell our readers, what would that be? Come visit us, take your time and let&rsquo;s enjoy a moment together.

Augustin de Buffevént talks his inspiration and vision for Fauré Le Page

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