Britain’s Oldest Luxury House Swaine Opens Paris Boutique

PARIS — Britain’s oldest luxury label has landed in Paris.

Swaine has opened a boutique on Avenue George V across the street from the American Cathedral, and a stone’s throw from Hermès and Louis Vuitton. It marks the introduction in France of quintessentially British products including attaché cases, fedoras and umbrellas used by movie characters ranging from James Bond to Indiana Jones and Mary Poppins.

Since it was founded in 1750 as a whip maker, the London-based house has supplied British royalty ranging from King George III to Queen Elizabeth II and King Charles III. Over the years it has incorporated umbrella maker Brigg & Co. and hat manufacturer Herbert Johnson, whose signature creations are also sold in the Paris store.

It marks Swaine’s second overseas opening this year as the brand seeks to grow beyond its historically male, Anglo-Saxon clientele.

“Swaine is evolving toward a more global, international presence, while broadening its appeal across genders,” Florence Di Taranto, who took over as chief executive officer of Swaine last month, told WWD.

“Leadership is no longer exclusively male; it also speaks to a female audience that wields power. The brand’s evolution is about opening up to these different segments and audiences,” she added.

In tandem with its opening at the Beverly Center in Los Angeles in May, the label launched new women’s handbag styles like the Malibu tote, which can be rolled into a cylindrical travel case, or the Bel-Air, which combines whip-like woven leather handles with ostrich skin, in a departure from its trademark bridle leather.

Prices for bags range from 1,800 euros to 9,360 euros, but Swaine also offers a bespoke service, with a big screen connecting customers at the Paris store directly to the workshops located at its New Bond Street flagship in London.

“Clients can design every last detail of their Swaine product, creating a truly unique object. That remains a key point of differentiation from other players in the category,” Di Taranto noted. “The production time depends on the complexity of the piece, of course, but clients should allow around two to four months.”

French Owner

Within walking distance of high-end hotels including the Four Seasons George V, Prince de Galles, Bulgari and Barrière Le Fouquet’s, the Paris boutique seeks to draw a cosmopolitan clientele. But since its soft opening two weeks ago, it has also seen a steady stream of locals curious about the brand, which previously had no presence in the country.

Visitors may be surprised to discover that Swaine is now French, having been acquired in 2021 by Chargeurs, the industrial and financial holding that has since changed names several times.

In October, the group rebranded itself as Belgrano, reflecting its repositioning as a new luxury player active across segments ranging from fibers, such as its sustainable and traceable Nativa wool, to business services and fabrication for the museum, cultural and entertainment sectors, via market leader Museum Studio.

As part of that transformation, built around the tagline “Architect of Rarity,” Belgrano earlier this year sold Novacel, a specialized manufacturer of protective films, to U.S. private equity firm KPS Capital Partners. It has also initiated a sale process for British brand Cambridge Satchel, whose price positioning is no longer in line with its strategy.

The group makes 95 percent of its revenues overseas, with a significant client hub in the United States, but also in Asia, said Marie Tronel, head of image and media at Belgrano. It spies great potential in bringing exceptional craftsmanship and heritage brands to a global audience of tastemakers.

“We believe that in a world where AI, algorithms and industrialization are disrupting everything, the value of history — and of things that cannot be substituted, replaced or imitated — will only grow. For us, these are highly compelling value propositions,” Tronel said.

That philosophy permeates Swaine’s Paris boutique, which features artworks from the collection of Michaël Fribourg, chairman and CEO of Belgrano Group, including paintings by Hans Hartung, André Brasilier and Bella Foster, and ceramics by Pablo Picasso and Seung Hee Lee.

In addition to its two London boutiques on New Bond Street and in Burlington Arcade, Swaine operates the Los Angeles store; a shop-in-shop at the Fairmont hotel in Montreux, Switzerland; and concessions at Harrods in London, The Playhouse in Tokyo and B Hemmings & Co. in Toronto.

Forty percent of its clients come from the U.K., 30 percent from North America, 15 percent from Europe, 10 percent from Asia and 5 percent from the Middle East.

As part of its selective retail expansion, the house plans to open another store in Washington, D.C., next spring and has its eyes on further locations in the Middle East and Asia.

‘Hidden Treasure’

Alongside luxury brush maker Altesse Studio, Swaine belongs to Belgrano’s personal goods division, which logged revenues of 9.3 million euros in the first nine months of 2026, up 24 percent versus the same period last year, according to figures published on Thursday. Group revenues totaled 288.1 million euros, down 8 percent in reported terms.

Comparing Swaine to a “hidden treasure,” Di Taranto said it intends to remain a niche player, with up to 10 locations worldwide by the end of 2028.

“We’re not going to compare ourselves with other major players in the market. Our ambition is to remain exclusive while exploring new territories,” the executive said.

“We want to remain a house of artisans, with exceptional craftsmanship. That means small teams of craftspeople doing the work by hand. There is no industrialization or mechanized production: it is the human hand that shapes our products and works the leather. That inevitably limits the scope for growth,” she added.

Swaine’s products are woven throughout British history, including the briefcase used by Winston Churchill, the caps and berets worn by the country’s military, and the postilion whips used during the wedding parade of Prince William and Kate Middleton.

They also feature prominently in Hollywood lore, from the Poet fedora favored by Indiana Jones to Cillian Murphy’s flat cap in “Peaky Blinders,” and the umbrella used by Gene Kelly in “Singin’ in the Rain.”

Those products all feature in the Paris boutique, alongside a selection of goods from other brands curated under the Swaine Heritage Club label — among them bangles from Halcyon Days, automatic music boxes from Reuge and Merrythought teddy bears.

Having reapplied for its royal warrant, the brand sees its presence in Paris as a way to bolster its luxury credentials.

“If you look at the origins of luxury brands, Paris was the world capital of the great houses in the 19th century. For us, establishing a presence here feels like a natural next step, and a way to affirm our legitimacy in exceptional craftsmanship, which Swaine wants to continue to shape,” Di Taranto said.