Designer Profile (3) - Dognin

As a child, Luc Dognin spent his time making small boxes, which he would then embellish and fill with hidden treasures. Stories of his great aunt spending her life enclosed in the 13th century family castle left him with a profound impression of his past.


Traces of his heritage took the form of letters, watercolours, lace archives and albums, which layer delicate Japanese paper cuts on newsprint. One photographic family portrait of a woman morphs into another creating a mysterious creature that functions as a Dognin imaginary muse…
‘The source’ is then transformed into the construction of modern day handbags that embellish the landscapes of our daily lives.

Luc Dognin appreciates his rich history but prefers to propel himself into the future by proposing new volumes and techiques that are at the same time luxurious, sensual, elegant and above all practical. There was a period in his life when he channeled his creativity through this fascination for numbers and the making of balance sheets. That same logic has been applied to the construction of a Dognin bag; every piece has its place and its purpose. The whole idea of a hidden structure creating an ideal form is not so far removed from 1937 ‘la grande scandale’. Dognin put the first heavy elastic structured under garment on the market and it was considered a ‘scandale’.

Dogni bads, like Luc’s childhood boxes, draw together and protect all the essentials of one’s daily life. Vital to the design are the secret theft proof pockets, zippers, adjustable leather straps and sophisticated linings. Each season new creations are added to the permanent collection, which now consists of about 100 pieces.

In March 100, Luc Dognin and Rafik Mahiout joined forces and launched the Dognin brand. They both want to bring fireworks back onto the Paris fashion scene through their brand by creating beauty, subtlety, desire and mystery.

To learn more about this interesting designer and his collaboration with Rafik Mahiout, please visit:
http://www.dogninparis.com/