Douglas Benjamin, Chief Executive Officer of F J Benjamin (Singapore) Pte Ltd, oversees the company's fashions businesses. Douglas is an acknowledged industry leader in brand building and in developing retail and distribution networks for international luxury and lifestyle brands in Singapore. During the last 21 years at F J Benjamin, Douglas has been instrumental in managing and directing the growth of some of the most iconic global fashion brands in Singapore such as Guess, Lalique, La Senza, Gucci, Fendi, Lanvin, Coach and Celine.

In addition, Douglas heads the Creative & Licensing Division. In this role, he directs the international expansion of F J Benjamin’s house label, RAOUL and helms the design team in his capacity as Creative Director. The RAOUL men’s label was developed and launched in Singapore in 2002 and RAOUL ladies in 2005. Today, RAOUL has a network of retail store in South-east Asia and Australia, and is distributed through points-of-sale across the United States, Europe and the Middle East.

Douglas holds the position of Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director of F J Benjamin Holdings Ltd and also sits on its Executive Committee.

Douglas was born in Singapore in 1964, the eldest son of Frank and Mavis Benjamin. Douglas graduated from the University of Kent and joined the Group upon his graduation in 1989. He started off as a Retail Executive and has worked his way up the corporate ladder. During this time, he has held several roles including Manager – Operations & Admin, Divisional Manager – Retail & Merchandising, Director/General Manager, Managing Director and to the present position of Chief Executive Officer.

L&S: With the strong presence of RAOUL at the recent Men's Fashion Week in Singapore, have consumer purchasing trends for men's fashion labels changed in the region? What are consumers, specifically men, looking for in a clothing brand?
DB: Men in this region are becoming more discerning and more aware of trends. They want to present themselves well and to also express their individual taste. They are looking for brands they can trust to deliver quality and reasonable prices.

L&S: FJ Benjamin represents an impressive group of luxury and lifestyle brands including Givenchy, Céline and La Senza to name a few.Are there plans to increase the group's portfolio with more labels?
DB: We are always on the lookout for new brands to represent since this is a key feature of our business . We are also being approached constantly by brands who feel they have something new to offer to the market, or those who want to change representation.

L&S: Has regional spending on fashion as a whole been affected by the global economic downturn, and if so, what steps did FJ Benjamin group take to ride it out?
DB: We were hit for a while, but as you know, Asia has proven to be very resilient . We are tempering regional ups and downs by expanding our ability to sell to Europe and the US through developing our own brands.

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