Part heritage, part contemporary, a little bit of sensuality and a lot of craftsmanship

French-born, Richard Le Sand has spent more than 25 years working across design, objects, craftsmanship, interiors and art. Today, these different experiences come together naturally through Secklars, the hospitality-focused studio he founded.

After beginning his career in France and receiving first prize at MAISON&OBJET in Paris in 2000, he moved to Singapore in 2008. In 2012, he founded AKAR de NISSIM, designing and producing his own collections of furniture and objects in close collaboration with craftsmen, from cabinetmakers and ceramists to brass casters, upholsterers and stone specialists.

Working within manufacturing ateliers shaped his understanding of materials, gesture and the demanding process behind well-made objects. Over the years, this close relationship with craftsmanship became central to his approach: one that favours restraint over ostentation and sees objects not in isolation, but as part of a wider interior.

His journey later led him to work as Consulting Design Director for HANOIA, a Vietnamese luxury house known for its lacquer craftsmanship, before joining Jean-Michel Gathy’s team at DENNISTON in Malaysia in 2018.

In 2022, he joined his friend Soo Khian Chan at SCDA Architects, working across interior projects and establishing the practice’s in-house art consulting department.

This experience brought another dimension to a multidisciplinary journey that now continues through Secklars.