Often described as "a multi-disciplinary and polymath entrepreneur,"[2] he has created different companies in the fashion, art, PR, and beauty industries since the early-1990s.
He first gained attention in the late 1990s as founder of L’Épicerie, a Paris concept store. Afterward he worked as a creative director for fashion and luxury houses, notably revamping Japan’s And A., menswear at London’s Liberty, and a new concept design for Barcelona’s Santa Eulalia, before relaunching the world's oldest wax manufacturer Cire Trudon with modernized branding and scents.[3]
In 2014, Touhami and his wife Victoire de Taillac-Touhami revived l’Officine Universelle Buly, an 1803 beauty and fragrance house later acquired by LVMH, expanding it internationally under their agency Art Recherche Industrie.[4][5]
Ramdane Touhami was born to a French Moroccan family of six[7] in Montauban, a commune in the Occitanie region in southern France. His father was an agricultural worker.[8]
When he was 12, he joined the team of "Radio Récré," (“Radio Recess” in French) created by his teacher at the Villebourbon middle school in Montauban, where he conducted interviews with political figures, including Jacques Chirac, then Prime Minister, who came to inaugurate a school in the neighboring town of Albias in 1987. The interview was rebroadcast on France Inter the following day.[9]
He spent his childhood in the countryside,[7] and while he was still in school, he created his own T-shirt brand, Teuchiland,[10] parodied Timberland with a reference to cannabis. He made a fortune out of it, but then was kidnapped and robbed of all the revenue.[11] Then, he dropped out of the boarding school, Touhami found himself on the wrong side of a Toulouse gang and escaped to Paris, where he was homeless for a year.[12] He was stabbed and bears the scar to this day.[13] In 1996, he launched "King Size", a French streetwear brand linked to skateboarding culture.[14]
On September 17, 1998, Touhami opened the concept store L'Épicerie at 30 rue du Temple in the 3rd arrondissement. L'Épicerie was conceived as an anti-Colette, the famous concept store on rue Saint-Honoré.[15] With his friend Artus de Lavilléon, he created this space, supporting designers and talent. Artists could present and sell all their ideas there, either independently or in collaboration. The concept attracted the interest of designers such as Jeremy Scott, Marc Jacobs, Jean Touitou, and Jérôme Dreyfuss.[16]
L'Épicerie sometimes transformed into a music store or art gallery. The invitation and collaboration model with designers worked in multiple directions: "X for L'Épicerie," "L'Épicerie by X." Within a short time, L'Épicerie was described as "the hippest store in Europe" by publications including Dazed & Confused, Herald Tribune, Le Monde, Vogue Paris and The New York Times.[17]
The shop closed on April 3, 1999.
Artistic Director of And.A in Tokyo
In 2020, Ramdane Touhami moved to Tokyo to take over the artistic direction of the brand And.A (styled &A), part of the Japanese Sazaby group, which sought to rehaul its image. On April 25, 2000, he assumed his position in Tokyo to establish a team, create offices, and develop new working conditions. Everything needed to be built: the collection, purchases, store creation and design, as well as the conception and implementation of the visual identity and image (press, communications, events).[18]
From 2000 to 2001, as artistic director, he created two collections of clothing and accessories for And.A, and curated a selection of products (electronics, furniture, books, magazines, jewelry). The store identity was redefined along with the graphic image. He designed the store architecture and visual identity independently. He launched two collections, "College" and "Coolax," which each had their own graphic identity.[19] Coolax was a way of suggesting that the real fun, the real fashions and real people are to be found on the streets.[20]
Launch of RT and Resistance
In 2003, he launched R.T, a new line of chic clothing with classic inspiration, entirely handmade by artisans. For R.T, he designed and developed his own fabrics and prints. All patterns were developed in Japan.[21]
A second brand, Resistance, drew inspiration from a more urban aesthetic. It honored certain major political icons and historical figures. For Resistance, Touhami opted for an ephemeral shop before the wave of pop-up stores. The Parisian store, located in the heart of the Latin Quarter, was named the "bureau politique" (political office) and displayed no clothing in the window. He collaborated with Howie B, Hanjin Tan, Darius Khondji, Philippe Parreno, among others.[22]
From 2003 to 2010, R.T. and Resistance clothing was sold in 180 retail locations around the world, including Maria Luisa in Paris, Nom de Guerre in New York, and Isetan in Tokyo.[23][24] In 2006, Touhami collaborated through Resistance with the Black Panther Party on an official collection celebrating the party's 40th anniversary.[25]
The journey continued 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,[26] realizing a " bar à eaux de cologne " (perfume bar) as a perfume palette.
Beginnings in cosmetics with Victoire de Taillac
Upon his return from Japan in 2001, he temporarily left fashion to launch a new project with his wife Victoire de Taillac: Parfumerie Générale, a concept store specializing in cosmetics and beauty located in the 8th arrondissement of Paris. This concept store brought together nearly a hundred international brands. As artistic director, he created a graphic universe for the store that broke with conventional beauty retail aesthetics. A mailyorder catalog, website, and fanzine ("Beauty Notes") were created. A second retail location was opened at Printemps.[27] The company was eventually sold in 2004.
Revival of Cire Trudon, founded in 1643
Two years later, in 2006, the owner of a French candle house, Cire Trudon, offered Ramdane Touhami the opportunity to take over the company with him and relaunch it.[8] A historical French candlemaker established in 1643, which had remained 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.[28] After studying its archives, he rediscovered the history of "Manufacture Trudon," a company founded in 1643 that held the title of "chandler to the King." He successfully relaunched the brand with scented candles bearing evocative names; Cire Trudon's creations were named "Best candle of 2011" by Wallpaper magazine and "Perfect candles" by The Daily Telegraph in England.[29][30] The candles were sold in over 600 stores worldwide, including Selfridges in London, Barneys and Bergdorf Goodman in New York, and Le Bon Marché in Paris. Ramdane Touhami sold his shares in 2011.[31]
Revival of the Officine Universelle Buly, founded in 1803
In 2014, he established his own beauty brand Officine Universelle Buly[32] 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.[33]
Bully inspired the novel César Birotteau written by Honoré de Balzac in 1839. An old-fashioned perfumery, Officine Universelle Buly 1803, claims an openness to beauty secrets from around the world and a valorization of beauty history.[34][35] Bully founded his own perfumery in 1803 and subsequently invented the vinegar toilet lotion branded Bully. One hundred eighty-two years later, Ramdane Touhami decided to relaunch the Bully perfumery. The name lost a consonant to avoid offending English-speaking clientele, as "bully" has negative connotations. Officine Universelle Buly thus took its first steps into modernity.[36]
His thirst for knowledge and respect for traditions drove Touhami ever further around the globe to find the rarest cosmetic ingredients. Having collected 19th-century beauty secrets, these were sold at the heart of the first Parisian beauty Officine, at 6 rue Bonaparte, in the 6th arrondissement. Since then, the brand has been present in a dozen countries in Europe and Asia: Taipei, Tokyo, New York, London, Hong Kong, Seoul, in over forty boutiques and retail corners with a design that blends Buly's aesthetic codes with the cultural specificities of each country.[36]
In 2019, Buly 1803 collaborated with the Louvre. Perfumers were invited to create a selection of eight fragrances whose names and olfactory compositions illustrated eight masterpieces exhibited at the Louvre, such as the Winged Victory of Samothrace or the Venus de Milo. The collaboration attracted significant media interest and achieved considerable commercial success.[37][38]
In October 2021, the brand Bully was acquired by LVMH.[39] In 2025, the brand relocates to the Saint-Germain district of Paris.[40]
Art Recherche Industrie
In June 2019, he established his own creative agency called Art Recherche Industrie, an artistic creation agency working in major aesthetic fields such as architecture, graphic design, and typography, distinguishing itself by "an original modus operandi: advocating home-made and zero-outsourcing".[41] It is through Art Recherche Industrie that Touhami continues to create for Officine Universelle Buly as artistic director, but also for other houses such as the silversmithChristofle and the trunk maker Moynat`.[42][43]
The Art Recherche Industrie agency is located in the 10th arrondissement of Paris in a former 19th-century ballroom, redecorated by Touhami, which the English magazine Wallpaper stated might be "the most beautiful offices in the world."[42][44]
Through the agency, he created S.H.I.T, Société Helvétique d'Impression Typographique (Swiss Typographic Printing Company) which notably prints WAM magazine, a publication created by Art Recherche Industrie.[42][45]
Entrepreneur
Despite his experience in art direction, Ramdane identifies himself more with "the logic of an entrepreneur".[46] In 2003, he started his own tailor-made menswear brand R.T.,[47] 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.[48]
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 March 2025, Mediapart accused him of harsh management practices. In his right of reply, he acknowledged "blunt speaking and an attitude that rattles" but denied engaging in illegal or discriminatory behavior.[49]
Politics
Ramdane Touhami is known for his left-wing political positions, notably against state racism and for the Palestinian cause, positions for which he has been the target of attacks perpetrated by far-right groups.[50] In a profile, L'Express describes him as "decolonial and close to Jean-Luc Mélenchon."[51]Le Nouvel Obs speaks of a "man of taste and power whose ambition is to awaken the young generation from immigrant backgrounds."[52]
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,[53] both romantically and professionally.[54]
The couple now live in Paris, France, with their three children.[55]
The Beauty of Time Travel, The Work of Ramdane Touhami and the Agency Art Recherche Industrie for Officine Universelle Buly, 2021, gestalten. ISBN978-3-96704-019-7
Radical Media Archive vol.1/7, An Anthology of Counterculture and Political Graphic Design, 2024, Permanent Files. ISBN978-2-95959-990-3
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