Longchamp serial number checker, read part by part

Not in the sense of a number unique to your bag. What sellers call the Longchamp serial number is the reference number, a code such as L1899089P68. Every bag of the same model, line and color carries the same one, so it identifies the product, not the individual bag. Longchamp prints it as Reference on its own product pages, and retailers call it the style ID, the REF.NO or the product code.

On the transparent label sewn inside the bag. Longchamp's own repair terms ask for the reference number of your item together with a photo of that transparent label, which is how you know it lives there. Some labels print it without the L, so the checker reads that too. On the labels we have photographed it is the last line of text, just above the care symbols, and the longer number above it is a different line.

Take L1899089P68. L1899 is the model number, here a Le Pliage tote with long handles. 089 is the line code, Le Pliage Original, where 979 is Le Pliage One and 987 is Le Pliage Xtra. P68 is the color code, navy. Other models use five digits with no L, so 10284089001 is a Le Pliage backpack in the Original line, in black. The full tables are on this page.

Because labels and retailers often print a shorter form of the same reference. The L in front of a four digit model is often dropped in listings, and on some labels too, so 1626089P68 is the same as L1626089P68. Some listings also leave the color code off, so 1899089 is the model and the line only. The checker reads all of these and tells you which parts it found. A seven digit line printed above the reference on an older label, such as 0941740, is a different number, so type the line below it.

No. None of the three parts is a date. The same reference stays on sale for many seasons, and retailers that show a season next to it, such as 26F, are adding their own tag. Any site that gives you a year from a Longchamp reference is guessing.

No. A reference is printed on a label, and counterfeiters copy real references, so a well-formed one proves very little on its own. One buyer shared the labels of a counterfeit Le Pliage Xtra tote and of the genuine bag she then bought from Longchamp, and both printed the same reference, L2605987542. Where it helps is a clear disagreement with the bag, such as a reference for a Le Pliage tote on a backpack. That is worth a closer look, not proof of a fake, and a color that seems slightly off is usually a naming difference, as the color question below explains. Construction, materials and finishing are what settle it, and that is the work our authenticators do from photos.

Longchamp offers no public lookup. Its legal terms say it sells through its own website and its official and approved retailers, and that anything bought outside that network is bought at the purchaser's own risk as regards authenticity. Its repair service does not take counterfeit items. What you can do is search the reference on Longchamp's website: a current one usually leads to the product page, and the model and color there should match your bag.

Usually not. On Longchamp's own stores a color code names the same color in every line it appears in, but one color can carry several codes: paper is both P71 and 555, burgundy is both P87 and 119, and black is 001 in most lines but not all of them. Sellers also name colors their own way, so P86 is fawn on Longchamp's site and dune at one seller on JD.com. Read the color by its code, compare it with Longchamp's own product page for that reference, and judge the color you see on the bag.

Because Longchamp uses far more codes than we list. We only name a line or a color once at least two sources agree on it, most often Longchamp's own pages and a seller, and our tables mark the few that rest on Longchamp and one retailer only. One collection can also carry several line codes. A code missing from our tables is not a bad sign. The checker still reads the shape of the reference and tells you which part it could not name.

Not on their own. Longchamp says it makes its bags at its own sites in western France, Tunisia and Mauritius and in partner workshops in France, China, Romania and Morocco, and that the country of assembly is on the label inside each bag. So a label that says China, Romania or Morocco is normal for a genuine bag. A counterfeit can print any of these countries too. In one case a buyer shared, a counterfeit and the genuine bag carried the same reference and named two different countries, both of them on Longchamp's list. The claims that particular letters on the label stand for a particular country come from fan blogs that disagree with other guides. Compare the reference with the bag instead, and leave the label details to an authenticator.