Ramdane Touhami
Born (1974-09-23) September 23, 1974
Montauban, France
NationalityFrench-Moroccan
Occupation(s)Creative director, entrepreneur
Known forOfficine Universelle Buly 1803, Art Recherche Industrie, L'Épicerie, Cire Trudon
SpouseVictoire de Taillac-Touhami
Children3
Websitehttp://www.ramdane.com/

Ramdane Touhami (born 23 September 1974 in Montauban, France) is a French-Moroccan artist, creative director and entrepreneur.[1]

Often called " a multi-disciplinary and polymath entrepreneur "[2] by the international press, he has created different companies in the fashion, art, PR, and beauty industry since the early 90s.

He is also known for revamping the world's oldest wax manufacturer Cire Trudon.[3]

Alongside his wife Victoire de Taillac, he is behind the 19th-century Parisian beauty brand, l’Officine Universelle Buly.[4][5]

Early life

Ramdane Touhami was born to a French Moroccan family of six[6] in Montauban, a commune in the Occitanie region in southern France. At the age of 12, he was selected for an interview with the French President Chirac.[7]

He spent his childhood in the countryside,[6] and while he was still in school, he created his own T-shirt brand, Teuchiland,[8] parodied Timberland with a reference to cannabis. He made a fortune out of it, but then was kidnapped and robbed of all the revenue.[9] Then he dropped out of the boarding school, found himself on the wrong side of a Toulouse gang and escaped to Paris, where he was homeless for a year.[10] He was stabbed and bears the scar to this day.[11]

From there, he started his first concept store L’Epicerie in Paris, a trendy “park” where clothes, embodying the anti-Colette attitude, quickly gaining attention of the press such as Dazed & Confused, Herald Tribune, Le Monde, Vogue and The New York Times.

Career

Creative director

Ramdane has worked as a creative director for various brands, helping fashion boutiques and luxury fragrances to revamp their stores and brand images.

He started by rebooting And A. in 2000, a fashion brand owned by the Japanese Group Sazaby, by reimagining interior of the store, the visual identity and marketing materials, purchasing, display, the creation of clothing collections, and even the musical selection. The journey continues later in 2003 when he was invited by Liberty, the famous London department store to renovate their men's sector, while he reconceived the entire line and merchandising, assembling 56 small trendy brands to create a walk-in chic closet for men's wear, followed by his new concept design in 2010 for Santa Eulalia Barcelona,[12] realizing a " bar à eaux de cologne " (perfume bar) as a perfume palette.

One of his major revamping projects[13] involves Cire Trudon, a historical French candle maker established in 1643, while it had been asleep for more than 350 years. To bring forth the lost history, he went back to the original name, reimagined the boutique, improved the original formula using vegetable wax, and created 20 perfumes for the line of scented candles, with each one having its own story that are often linked to the history of the brand or the larger one of France.

In June 2019, he established his own creative agency called Art Recherche Industrie, an art direction office in major aesthetic fields, distinguishing itself by "an original modus operandi: advocating home-made and zero-outsourcing".[14] It works closely with his own beauty brand, Officine Universelle Buly, Buly 1803 in short, as well as other partners, such as Moncler.

Entrepreneur

Despite his experience in art direction, Ramdane identifies himself more with "the logic of an entrepreneur".[15] In 2003, he started his own tailor-made menswear brand R.T.,[16] for which he drew and developed his own fabrics and prints, followed by Résistance with a more urban style, honoring some of the most important historic and political icons. R.T. & Résistance has been sold in 180 retail stores around the world: " Maria Luisa " in Paris, " Nom de guerre " in New York City, " Isetan " in Tokyo, among others, and seen collaborations such as with the Black Panther Party for its 40th anniversary.[17]

As his attention shifted from fashion to fragrances, Ramdane started his own scent studio Architecture Olfactive right after his work at Cire Trudon in 2010. The studio has designed numerous signature scents for various brands and companies, such as The Kooples in Paris, Barney's and the Mercer Hotel in New York, Santa Eulalia in Barcelona, as well as the Shangri-La hotels and palaces, together with imagination of scents for events.

In 2014, he established his own beauty brand Officine Universelle Buly[18] at 6 rue Bonaparte in the 6th district in Paris with his wife, Victoire de Taillac-Touhami. The brand was initially founded by Jean-Vincent Bully in 1803, later revived by the duo,[19] and now operates in several countries and regions selling a wide range of products including water-based perfumes, scented candles, etc.[20]

Personal life

Ramdane is married to Victoire de Taillac-Touhami, a beauty expert and ex-director of public relations for emblematic concept store Colette. They have been close partners since their meeting in the 90s,[21] both romantically and professionally.[22]

The couple now live in Paris, France, with their three children.[23]

Awards and honours

In December 2020, Touhami was granted Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres (Knight of Arts and Letters).

Books and publications

  • 2003: Participation at " Hello Kitty's 30th birthday " exhibit at Mori Museum, in Tokyo.
  • 2006: " View of the sea ", first movie directed with French graphic artist Artus de Lavilléon.
  • 2013: Launching of the independent beauty magazine " Corpus " alongside Victoire de Taillac.
  • 2017: Publishing of:
    • An Atlas of Natural Beauty (the U.K. edition), Ebury Press. (ISBN 978-1-785-03494-7)[24]
    • Atlas de la beauté au naturel (French), edition originale Ebury Press. (ISBN 978-2-232-14494-3)[25]
  • 2018: Publishing of:
    • An Atlas of Natural Beauty (the U.S. edition), Simon & Schuster. (ISBN 978-1-501-19735-2)[26]
  • 2020: Launching of
    • WAM Magazine, Ramdane Touhami's egocentric magazine, published by Art Recherche Industrie
    • Атлас естественной красоты (Russia edition), Azbooka. (ISBN 978-5-389-16265-5)[27]
  • 2021: Publishing of:
    • The Beauty of Time Travel, The Work of Ramdane Touhami and the Agency Art Recherche Industrie for Officine Universelle Buly, gestalten. (ISBN 978-3-96704-019-7)

References

  1. ↑ #50 Ramdane Touhami (Officine Universelle Buly), retrieved 21 February 2019
  2. ↑ "Former Cire Trudon Co-Owner Revives Historic Beauty Brand". The Business of Fashion. 26 March 2014. Retrieved 16 April 2018.
  3. ↑ Kazakina, Katya (16 November 2010). "Whiff of Marie Antoinette at 367-Year-Old Candle Maker's Shop". Bloomberg BusinessWeek. Retrieved 7 May 2011.
  4. ↑ Thomas, Dana (4 July 2017). "Ramdane Touhami's New French Empire". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 16 April 2018.
  5. ↑ "Ramdane Touhami". Pen Magazine International. Retrieved 18 April 2018.
  6. 1 2 Grazia.fr (2 September 2019). "Ramdane Touhami : "Ce que j'aime, c'est entrer dans une boite... – Grazia". www.grazia.fr (in French). Retrieved 30 March 2021.
  7. ↑ "Montauban. Les "années collège" de Ramdane Touhami". ladepeche.fr (in French). Retrieved 30 March 2021.
  8. ↑ "Works". ramdane.com. Retrieved 16 April 2018.
  9. ↑ "Day in The Life: Ramdane Touhami". Kinfolk. 20 February 2018. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
  10. ↑ "Inverser la courbe du destin – Ép. 2/4 – Voyage transclasse, histoires de ceux qui ont quitté leur milieu d'origine". France Culture (in French). Retrieved 30 March 2021.
  11. ↑ "Day in The Life: Ramdane Touhami". Kinfolk. 20 February 2018.
  12. ↑ "Santa Eulalia. Modern luxury shop based in Barcelona. Online Store". santaeulalia.com. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
  13. ↑ "Ramdane Touhami, franc-tireur du luxe à la française". Le Monde.fr (in French). 20 April 2018. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
  14. ↑ "Art Recherche Industrie – Agence de direction artistique créée par Ramdane Touhami. Architecture, typographie, graphisme, photographie, écriture, création de produits, identité & philosophie de marque". Retrieved 30 March 2021.
  15. ↑ "Info". www.ramdane.com. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
  16. ↑ Voight, Rebecca (2006). "A neo-rebel cool". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 16 April 2018.
  17. ↑ Limnander, Armand (12 March 2006). "The Remix; Spirit of '66". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
  18. ↑ buly1803.com/en/
  19. ↑ Fetto, Funmi (2 September 2018). "Sweet smell of success: the couples making scents". the Guardian. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
  20. ↑ Thomas, Dana (4 July 2017). "Ramdane Touhami's New French Empire". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
  21. ↑ "Victoire de Taillac & Ramdane Touhami · MKRS". MKRS. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
  22. ↑ Cook, Grace (5 December 2019). "Buly 1803 picks playful stocking fillers". www.ft.com. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
  23. ↑ "'Paris is home': a creative couple's colourful apartment | Homes". the Guardian. 20 January 2018. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
  24. ↑ Taillac, Victoire de (2017). An atlas of natural beauty : botanical ingredients for retaining and enhancing beauty. Ramdane Touhami. London. ISBN 978-1-78503-494-7. OCLC 1011147170.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  25. ↑ Taillac, Victoire de (2017). Atlas de beauté au naturel : secrets botaniques pour conserver et sublimer votre beauté. Ramdane Touhami, Isaure de Benque, L'Officine Universelle Buly. Paris. ISBN 978-2-232-14494-3. OCLC 1130898395.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  26. ↑ de Taillac, Victoire (2018). An atlas of natural beauty : botanical ingredients for retaining and enhancing beauty. Ramdane Touhami (hardcover ed.). New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-1-5011-9735-2. OCLC 1045640565.
  27. ↑ De Taillac, Victoire (2020). Атлас естественной красоты. Russia: Azbooka. ISBN 978-5-389-16265-5.

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