RAVI H. NARINE

Spencer Cover Feature RAVI H. NARINE

substance over style: RAVI NARINE

His friends perceive him as a Robin Hood of business, and he shares, “Why wouldn’t I help someone I know who’s motivated and deserving when the opportunity presents? Especially when the connection can benefit both parties.”

By Rose Marie Bresolin

On first meeting Ravi, one immediately gets a sense of his strong presence. At home with the attention he attracts, I was happy when the opportunity presented itself to interview him for Spencer. We arranged to meet up at One Restaurant in Yorkville.

Rose Marie: Ravi, in the times we’ve run across one another at fashion events, what stands out most is your sense of style and unwavering confidence but yet there is a humility you have about yourself. You also show a genuine interest in the person you introduce yourself to which is impressive. I’m aware that you work in the lifestyle field and a big part of your role is business development and strategic partnerships. I’ve since learned that you also have launched a consulting company – 10Eleven Consulting Firm - that’s primarily focused on the luxury fashion industry to help individuals and companies make the connections that they need. But we’ll get to that later. Let’s talk about what attracted you to fashion in the first place.

Ravi: I have always been very interested in fashion and the luxury lifestyle space. During my teenage years, I started asking myself, how can I curate someone’s lifestyle? How can I get you out at the hottest events, tell you what the best styles are to wear or the type of sports car to drive? At that time, I wasn’t connected to that space, so these questions couldn’t be easily answered, but I had that vision from early on. If you want to become a doctor or a lawyer, there is a path for you to follow. If you want to get into the luxury lifestyle space, there isn’t necessarily an established path to guide you, so as I got closer to graduating high school, I figured that going into marketing was the best way to build that foundation.

Post high school - I studied marketing and advertising and over the course of my career, I have been fortunate to collaborate with major luxury brands. Where I always excelled was on the creative side of things. I still remember one of my major assignments was to create a clothing line – including the marketing strategy, brand name, product categories, price-point, etc. I had a demographic in mind in terms of a target audience to reach and how I would market it to that group. I had a friend who was an artist, and he did the sketches and the renderings of all the pieces for me, which was really great because it provided the visuals and gave the audience the look and feel for the brand.

Did either of you sew?

No, not at all. As a matter of fact, I didn’t do any of the technical type of stuff.

Did you realize how different that was?

Back then, no. Now, yes – because I work with designers all the time, so I know what they do and what goes into it on the back end.

You were designing without actually putting pieces of fabric together. I would think that’s harder to do.

The way I looked at it was that I was creating the concept… the vision for the brand. I wasn’t sewing, measuring, and cutting but I knew fashion, fabrics and what looks good and the brand positioning that would resonate with consumers. Now you see major brands appointing celebrities with no design background as creative directors because of their artistic vision.

Impressive. To go back to your notion of curating, you’re looking at how you can do that for individuals in real time, and I’m thinking how this story might curate a path for young people interested in following your tracks. Because, while the questions you had weren’t easy to get answers to when you first started on your path, you now have an opportunity to provide a platform where you can speak about your experiences and it just might be the ‘lightbulb’ moment for someone who wants to get into the industry, looking for direction and how they might get started.

In my final semester of college, one of the requirements was to secure an internship in my field of study. During that period, I was working part-time at a well-known department store and while they didn’t have a specific role available, the manager, who knew how I worked, gave me an opportunity to do my internship there. Shortly after I graduated, the position for a Special Events Coordinator became open and it was offered to me. So that was my first official full-time role in my career. I think they must have been observing me and saw something in the way I worked, because there were certainly people more seasoned than me for the role at that particular time. While I did events for the entire store, most of my time was spent working with the high-end cosmetics and fragrance brands. I worked with the respective brand managers to organize and execute their events. It really gave me great exposure at the time. It sounds glamorous but it really wasn't (laughs). What it proved to be was a great opportunity for me to learn and see firsthand how important it was to be part of a team, building strong relationships and I worked hard at it.

What did you specifically do in the work-up to an event in that role?

My role was to work with the brand managers on planning and organizing the event concept and details, coordinate physical logistics, work with the merchandising teams when necessary and also to promote the event to clients. Like I said previously, it wasn’t the most glamourous role, but I was given a lot of creative freedom in this role. As I’ve progressed in my career, that’s become one of the most important elements for me – to have a certain degree of control in terms of how I get my work done including planning and execution. Obviously, there are guidelines I have to work within, but for the most part I’ve been fortunate to have that flexibility to really get creative and add my own spin on things. I think that you really need to live and breathe this space to fully understand how to be successful within it. An accountant knows how to manipulate numbers. A journalist knows how to put the right spin on a story. For me, I know how to successfully curate luxury partnerships and experiences.

Tell us what that means precisely, and how it plays out.

Firstly, this industry is not 9-5, so if you approach it like that, you’re already on your heels trying to keep up. Secondly, you always need to have a pulse on what’s new and

“If you want to become a doctor or a lawyer, there is a path for you to follow. If you want to get into the luxury lifestyle space, there isn’t necessarily an established path to guide you.”

Photo Credit: Justin Brito

“An accountant knows how to manipulate numbers. A journalist knows how to put the right spin on a story. For me, I know how to successfully curate luxury partnerships and experiences.”

hot to determine what type of partnerships would be most impactful. From there, I would then layer in elements that would truly elevate the experience. I understand the luxury clientele base in the Canadian market and what resonates with this group. The standards are high and there is a level of expectation that must be met. I take great pride in my work, so I always want to ensure that anything that my name is attached to is successful. My expectations of myself are more than what anyone else can place on me. This calls for months of work on the back end with planning and preparation but the positive feedback I receive from my peers in the industry, business partners and clients keep me inspired.

For sure, there’s lots to be said about starting from the ground up. I want you to go back to what you said about being interested in fashion at an early age and think even farther back to what inspired you, and then to what kept your interest alive until it became a possibility.

My parents were an early source of inspiration. They both paid attention to how they dressed, and always made sure my siblings and myself were well dressed as kids. As I got older, that love for fashion continued to grow throughout my teenage years, early adulthood and continues to grow even now. I have a good sense of trends but fashion is such a personal thing, so I think the key is being able to add your own touch to it to really make your style uniquely yours. Another source of inspiration now is my family and close friends who come to me for my opinion on certain outfits or looks. They trust my opinion, so I guess I must be doing something right (laughs). With 10Eleven Consulting, my goal is to deliver a bespoke service that is forward thinking and delivers results to luxury brands in the areas of: strategic brand consultancy, content strategy and creation, partnerships and collaborations and experiential. I work as an extension of their in-house teams to achieve the desired business objectives. A career in this industry requires you to

“I have a have certain skills outside of the creative only. You need to be a strong communigood sense of cator – both written and verbally. You also need to have a specific social decorum trends but and the ability to collaborate effectively. I am able to merge these elements together with 10Eleven Consulting Firm. fashion is such And how might anyone needing that level a personal thing, of service find you? so I think the key If you want to get in contact with me, can email me directly at: you is being ravi.narine@10elevenconsulting.com. able to add And lastly, this is a chance to name your strongest influencers if you haven’t alyour own touch ready done so, and maybe a key defining moment. to it to really I didn’t have to look too far – my strongest make your style influences are my parents. They taught me to have a strong work ethic, how to deal with and manage adversity and being a uniquely person of integrity. These are all things that have helped me get to this point in yours.” my career and I continue to apply these teachings today. When you see me, you see them, along with my sister and brother, and they continue to be my biggest supporters. Outside of my immediate family, I am blessed to have a close group of friends that constantly push and support me and I do the same for them. Loyalty is a very big thing for me, so if you’re in my circle, there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you. Lastly, my peers in the industry are also a great influence. It’s always great to see the initiatives that other creatives are working on. I love seeing everyone succeed and am excited when an opportunity to collaborate presents itself because, although we are all very like-minded individuals, we all bring our own unique talents to the table.

Well the fashion world certainly fits you well.

Thank you – I appreciate that. And thinking back, I almost gave it all up. A few years ago, I had to deal with a major setback in my personal life and it was such a difficult time for me that I decided that I needed a break from everything to sort my life out, recharge and refocus. Before making a final decision, I had a conversation with one of my mentors and it was a very honest discussion that I am grateful for to this day because it helped me to put things into perspective and understand that I had greater things that I still needed to achieve. As we all progress towards our individual goals, we have ‘turn back’ moments where we can either keep pushing and working through adversity or choose not to deal with it and go in another direction. In hindsight, that was a ‘turn back’ moment in my career and I am glad that I didn’t, because we would not be sitting here right now having this conversation. It was a turning point for me and I never looked back..

I can imagine how thankful you are in having stayed the course. You have a genuine way with people, and forming connections that would be of benefit to any organization. And now tell us a little about the consulting firm that you’ve launched. SHOT ON LOCATION in Yorkville, Toronto, Canada.

Photographer Justin Brito captured these images in the heart of Toronto's luxury "Fashion District." Special thanks to Charles Khabouth's Sofia Restaurant & Bar, Chanel Yorkville and the Park Hyatt Hotel.