Beyond Black And White

How a luxury lifestyle juggernaut is writing its future with solidly backed expansion, subtle design and the occasional stylistic surprise.

Call it timeless, or call it classic – either way, there is no doubt that many luxury brands, particularly the male-centric ones, tend towards conservatism. Consider, for instance, Montblanc’s Meisterstuck Le Petit Prince pen collection. Inspired by Antoine de Saint-Exupery’s classic novella The Little Prince, the new writing instruments are sheathed in blue resin or lacquer – the first time in more than 90 years that the brand’s signature Meisterstuck pen has been done in a colour other than black.

In a chat with The Peak when he was recently in town for the reopening of Montblanc’s Raffles City store, the brand’s CEO, Nicolas Baretzki, said with a smile: “One might wonder why it matters that the Little Prince collection is blue. But, for us, it’s a revolution, because the Meisterstuck has always been black.”