Nicolas Baretzki is rummaging through his large duffle bag. It’s a gorgeous leather number designed by Montblanc’s creative director Marco Tomasetta. He’s looking for a writing instrument to emphasise a point he’s making about Montblanc’s gender-neutral approach, but the ballpoint has disappeared into the bag’s depths. “I always tease my wife about not being able to find her items in her bag. The joke’s on me now!” Baretzki said.
The affable CEO is in Singapore, part of his whistle-stop tour around the region. He’s in town to share Montblanc’s new vision and launch its newest leather goods collaboration with anime series Naruto. The sling bag is sold out.
As a maison, we want to create functional products but with a twist. You can see the small details in our product that create that surprise.
Montblanc CEO Nicolas Baretzki on the brand’s appeal
The collection reflects Montblanc’s updated strategy, accelerated by the pandemic. “Covid-19 was good for us. It forced the brand to make radical decisions,” said Baretzki. Now, the aim is to foster a deeper relationship with customers and adopt a lifestyle-centric approach. Its latest ambassador, or Mark Maker, reflects this.
“Previously, I had lunch with [actor] Cillian Murphy in Dublin and he shared he was hesitant to come on board because he is not a fan of marketing products. I told him I didn’t want him to shout that he loves Montblanc; I just wanted him to be authentic. If you think about how he dresses in Peaky Blinders, he is the man who represents Montblanc,” shares Baretzki.
Murphy finally agreed, in part because of Spike Lee’s association with the brand. The latter is a Mark Maker, too. “Murphy has no social media presence, so you cannot accuse us of taking him because of his Instagram followers!”
Baretzki assures us that Montblanc is not dispensing with its writing heritage. He reveals this category has strengthened during the pandemic and posted record results. The brand wants to continue its mission to inspire writing for the next generation. Its writing atelier at the new Montblanc Haus in Hamburg works with different schools to get students to continue putting words on paper.
He has considered bridging the digital and paper worlds — digital writing pads such as Moleskine and reMarkable are popular now — but won’t compromise on Montblanc’s writing vision.
It’s impossible to inspire the next generation without mentioning sustainability. In this regard, Baretzki has outlined clear goals. “We are minimising our brand footprint. For example, by the end of this year, we will no longer have polyvinyl chloride, or PVC, in our leather products. PVC is damaging to the environment and creates lots of waste. As part of our Glacier collection of timepieces too, we are working with an NGO to preserve Chamonix’s glaciers and educate climbers to reduce their waste.”
The idea is to take small, concrete actions with manifold consequences. Just like how Baretzki will no longer tease his wife for losing her things in her bag.
