Working together over the years

THE history of top German leather goods brand Braun Buffel's relationship with Singapore can be somewhat compared to that between the two countries.

Braun Buffel began its expansion into the Asia-Pacific starting with Singapore in 1982. According to director Christiane Brunk, the company decided to begin its expansion from Singapore because it felt that the environment was something they could be comfortable with.

Citing her father, Karl-Heinz Braun, whose grandfather started the company in 1887, Ms Brunk says that he always considered Singapore to be the Switzerland of Asia. "This was a great compliment because you know Germans tend to be very organised and bureaucratic sometimes and Switzerland is also a very proper and well organised country in Europe," she explains.