David J. L. Manoukian

Background

Ethnicity: Manoukian has described his family as being of Armenian origin.

David J. L. Manoukian was born on 10 January 1975. He is the son of Alain Manoukian, a French fashion designer born in Marseille in 1946 who began his career in the fashion industry in 1972. In an interview, David Manoukian described his family as being of Armenian origin and said that he has a sister.

Alain Manoukian opened his first store in 1972 with the help of his wife, and the ready-to-wear brand that carried his name later became one of the best-known French fashion labels of its kind. According to a Luxe magazine interview, the brand was found in more than 350 shops during the 1970s. The family business was therefore part of the formative environment of David Manoukian's youth and later professional life.

Education

David Manoukian attended Le Rosey, the private boarding school in Rolle, Switzerland. Founded in 1880 by Paul-Émile Carnal on the site of a fourteenth-century castle, the school became known for its bilingual French and English education and for its seasonal campuses, moving to Gstaad for the winter from 1917. Its international character made it a school for students from many countries.

He continued his studies in the United States, in Boston, before returning to France for his business education. In 1997 he received a Bachelor of Business Administration from the Institut supérieur de gestion (ISG) in Paris. Founded in 1967 by a group of French business leaders led by Pierre-Alexandre Dumas, ISG is a private business school recognized by the French state, and in 1997, the year of his graduation, it joined the IONIS Education Group.

Career

David Manoukian began his professional career at PricewaterhouseCoopers, the auditing and consulting firm formed in 1998 through the merger of Price Waterhouse and Coopers & Lybrand. He worked first in the Audit division and then in the Corporate-Finance division, which handled mergers and acquisitions, for about three years.

In 2000 he joined the family group Alain Manoukian as International President, and he took part in the brand's expansion in Europe, Russia, the Middle East, and Asia. Within the family company he also developed France's first textile e-commerce website, reflecting his interest in new technologies. He later oversaw the acquisition of the French ready-to-wear brand by the American fashion group BCBG Max Azria, which had acquired the label in 2005, and the brand's subsequent growth in the United States.

In 2007, together with his family, he turned his attention to urban commercial real estate development and high-end residential property. In 2008 he created a multimedia division dedicated to the Web, and its first project was The-Sphere.com, a members-only luxury network that aims to connect people with similar backgrounds and interests. The site is primarily a network for renting luxury properties and is headquartered in Paris. He is also the co-founder and chief executive of Realty Capital Partners, a company investing in luxury real estate in niche markets such as Courchevel, Megève, and Saint-Tropez, the French Alpine ski resorts and Mediterranean resort town respectively.

Achievements

• He founded The-Sphere.com in December 2008 and serves as its chairman and chief executive officer. The site is a luxury network built around selective membership, and it extended his family's business interests into the digital field.

• He co-founded Realty Capital Partners, a company that invests in luxury real estate in niche markets such as Courchevel, Megève, and Saint-Tropez, and serves as its chief executive officer.

• He developed France's first textile e-commerce website while working in the family company, an early step in the online commerce of the French fashion sector.

Religion

David Manoukian is affiliated with the Armenian Apostolic Church, one of the oldest national churches in Christianity. The church traces its origins to the early evangelization of Armenia and holds that Armenia adopted Christianity as its state religion in 301. As a member of the Oriental Orthodox family of churches, it maintains its own liturgical language, Armenian, and its own hierarchy, including the Catholicosate of Etchmiadzin.

The church has been central to Armenian communal life for centuries, and its role expanded considerably through the Armenian diaspora that developed across Europe, the Middle East, and the Americas in the twentieth century. For families of Armenian origin living in France, church institutions, language, and liturgy have remained important markers of religious and cultural identity.

Interests

• Manoukian has described a passion for new technologies, an interest that led him to develop online commerce and web projects in the family business and later to found The-Sphere.com.

Connections

David Manoukian is the son of Alain Manoukian, whose fashion business became the setting of his first major professional role. He has a sister, and in an interview he said that she has four children. He has said that he has two sons.

He is married to Chantal Manoukian. Their marriage is recorded in biographical sources, and the couple's family life has been closely associated with the family's business and real estate ventures.

Father:

Alain Manoukian

French fashion designer born in Marseille in 1946, who began his career in the fashion industry in 1972 and founded the Alain Manoukian fashion group.

Sister:

Seda Manoukian

Wife:

Chantal Manoukian

References

• David Manoukian Encyclopedia article covering his birth date, education at Le Rosey and ISG, his career at PricewaterhouseCoopers and the Alain Manoukian group, and his roles at The-Sphere.com and Realty Capital Partners.
• David Manoukian Structured data entry describing him as a French businessman, with his date of birth, educational institution, country of citizenship, and residence.
• The Sphère: a social luxury network for the happy few Magazine article presenting the origins of The Sphere as a family story between David Manoukian and his father, and including his own remarks about his family, studies, and early career.