Hong Kong leather goods maker Olivier Dauchez talks luxury and his noble French roots

“I spent my childhood in my mother’s castle in the Loire Valley in central France. We had a music room on the ground floor, three different living rooms with various paintings, large-scale and intricate tapestries, and beautifully carved wooden furniture. Being surrounded by all these objects made me very interested in learning how they were made. I believe it was here that I acquired my first taste of luxury products.

Although the castle is very beautiful and you are in a wonderful environment that looks like a museum, living inside one is not as glamorous as people might think. There are a lot of big rooms, so it’s very cold in winter and difficult to warm up. One memory I have as a small child was being afraid of the life-sized suits of armour standing along the walls of the castle. The worst part was having to walk along a long corridor to get to a bathroom, with the suits of gilded armour on either side – it was frightening.

There were, of course, some good memories as well. I remember that my sister and I used to play a lot with an antique wooden carriage, the type that important people would sit on and have people carry. It was only later as an adult that I realised how precious the piece was, but as a child you don’t realise this and just play with it for fun.

There are a lot of noble families in France. Personally, I am the descendant of a French noble family that originated in the 13th century. That said, because we are related to the king’s family, we are what I would call regular nobles. We are in charge of taking care of our geographical area, but nothing more.

But what is interesting about my upbringing was the education I received. I was taught to be very comfortable with the prime minister as well as the farmer from next door. It is our philosophy to treat people equally, and with the same dignity and respect.

The first time I came to Hong Kong was in 1996. Originally, I came here by chance, and was only supposed to stop by for three days as part of a transit to Vietnam. But within 24 hours, I somehow managed to land a job offer, and I stayed.