ARMAN ... envisioneering the marine future.
Despite it’s long history, the marine leisure industry as we know it is still one that’s coming of age. Most modern yachts are noisy, polluting, have little respect for the environment they exist in, spend vast amounts of time being inactive and are expressing their identity while visually jumping from one ephemeral fashion trend to another. The image of the revolting teenager comes to mind...
But it seems we’re entering a new era. Spurred by a heightened environmental awareness and a new economical context, the marine industry is now ready to reinvent itself to grow up to a strong, resilient and responsible adult, ready to face the future. But, in the process, it could do with a guiding hand and a finger on the pulse.
Our reason for being.
As a company, it’s our mission to envision and develop a matured and sustainable marine leisure industry.
Our values and beliefs.
"Most Advanced Yet Acceptable" (MAYA principle)
Visionary designs have no monetary nor social value unless they are manufacturable and marketable. Without vision there can be no progress (and consequently no sustainable future prospect). We always aim to find the right intersection between front-end vision and back-end manufacturability / marketability. That’s why we think of ourselves as envisioneers rather than designers, engineers or marketeers. To conceive successful products you need to be wearing all three thinking hats at the same time.
"Making money while making sense"
Capitalism as the nemesis of environmentalism is an idea that stems from a time and context that no longer holds true. The world is a dynamic system and the concepts we use to make it work have to change accordingly. The new alternative to our old destructive capitalistic model is called “natural capitalism”.
Some of its guiding principles we adhere to or work towards are:
- "Change in values from quantity to quality"
- "Transition from a product consumption model to a service consumption model"
- "Improving efficiencies" (do more with less)
Company pre-history.
Born in Belgium, a country with a nearly non-existent sailing culture in a city as far from the sea as possible plus a family not even remotely interested in water sports, Arman Fissette couldn't have made a stranger choice for a career when he decided to become a yacht designer. Surprisingly, it probably was the exoticness of this idea that attracted him so much.
With an affinity for the arts and a technical disposition, he embarked on a master degree in product development in Antwerp which he finished with honors. Upon graduation he moved to the French Riviera, as prospects were bleak in Belgium for a starting yacht designer. For 5 years he worked at Blubay Yachts on several sailing catamarans and eventually got involved in aircraft interior design . He successfully set up an aircraft design department and lead several projects for global companies like Airbus and Singapore airlines. The expertise gained during these years didn't go unnoticed and he subsequently got employed by BMW DesignworksUSA in Los Angeles, one of the major global design studios, where he was a senior designer at the Transit Department. The three years spent there were very nourishing and he had the opportunity to work on a myriad of transportation design projects, some of which gained him several design awards as well as patents.
Always curious about the world and with a love for adventure and the outdoors, he decided to leave BMW and take off for a year to travel solo around the world, taking him to the world’s most remote corners and most breathtaking places. It was there and then, fully aware of the earth’s beauty as well as it’s fragility, that he decided to go back to his original passion - yacht design; this time with his own company and with a strong dedication to deliver projects that make a difference with respect to the natural world.
