Moynat: Le Jardin Anglais

Creative Director Nicholas Knightly and Friend of the House Mark Hearld evoke the infinite wonder and ineffable beauty of the natural world with a festive collection for Moynat Paris.

Mark is a prolific Artist designer from York who creates wildly imaginative and riotous works inspired by the flora and fauna of the British countryside. A maverick unbounded by his medium, he works across collage, painting and printmaking as well as ceramics, wallpaper and textile design. In this special collaboration, Mark’s paper-cut designs are enlivened in exquisite leathers using Maison Moynat’s leather marquetry technique. For both crafts, a single cut to the material reveals a profusion of creative possibilities. Seemingly spontaneous shapes connect to form enchanting artworks. Nature becomes the muse and inspires a collection of limited-edition bags and small leather goods, where birds soar through boundless skies, perch serenely on branches and dance jubilantly amongst the trees. They dream of distant horizons and faraway lands, with silhouettes as elusive as the canopies they command.

Underscored by an eclectic British spirit, each unique creation illustrates the transformational power of craft through the sheer joy of making and the pleasure of artistic endeavors with friends.

What is your design ethos?

Nicolas Knightly: I always aim to create bags that are classic and timeless but are bold and forward looking with contemporary relevance.

How should one style their MOYNAT bag?

NK: Moynat bags can be styled in many ways! The beautiful, crisp, high quality of the bags look particularly great when worn casually, but equally good when worn with a chic polished attitude.

What are your favorite colors for a handbag?

NK: It’s impossible to choose one color, but I always love the natural tan colors, like Moynat’s “Cannelle”, especially with contrast stitching which is inspired by the leather handles on the trunks in the Moynat archive. I also love bright saturated colors like Moynat’s “Chlorophyll” or “Azure”, which look beautiful worn on top of neutral colors or mixed with other bright tones.

What makes MOYNAT unique? And what makes it timeless?

NK: I think it’s the inherited and traditional techniques and Savoir faire that comes from the Moynat atelier that gives Moynat bags and small leather goods their unique and timeless quality.

moynat.com | @moynat

* This interview by Tanja Beljanski first appeared in the December 2022 issue of L'Officiel Arabia.