Ramesh Nair, creative director of Parisian heritage brand Moynat, tells us what he really thinks about the business of luxury.
You can probably call Ramesh Nair a journalist’s dream. He never minces his words, nor cares about giving a PR-approved answer. Yet he is soft-spoken, self-deprecating and completely sincere at the same time. This is the second time I am meeting the creative director of French trunk maker Moynat. The first was in 2012 (in fact, he remembered the year, not me), in Paris, at the then-only Moynat store and atelier on rue Saint Honoré, just a year after luxury giant LVMH acquired the brand. Half a decade later, we meet again in the newly opened Singapore boutique. This time, Moynat isn’t a brand just stirring from slumber. It is a powerhouse that is midway through worldwide domination. But I am glad to see that Nair has not changed one bit.
Why was Singapore chosen as the location for Moynat’s first store in Southeast Asia?
Ramesh Nair (RM) One of our first customers was from Singapore. When Moynat reopened in 2011, we had the Americans and the French buy from us. Then we had two Singaporean men who each bought a bag.
How did the brand gain such a cult following of both trendsetters and fashion insiders?
RM A good designer looks for things that are out of the common sphere. When I come to Singapore, I have to find out what’s going on in the design, fashion and art scene here. It’s just part of who we are. We’ve also had counterculture designers such as Rick Owens and his wife, Michele Lamy, coming. That is one of the ways you can measure your success in the beginning—to see how you are accepted by the people in the know.
