Inside Switzerland's Quiet Luxury

A conversation with David Ratmoko, Founder of Metro Models

The world of Swiss luxury rarely advertises itself. The country's watchmakers, private bankers, and luxury houses have spent generations perfecting the art of being known without being loud. It is a sensibility that runs deep through Switzerland, where two of the world's largest luxury groups are headquartered, and where the people who shape global taste increasingly choose to live.

David Ratmoko has spent the last fifteen years building Metro Models into the largest modeling agency in Switzerland and one of the most respected casting partners for luxury maisons across Europe. Founded in 2010, the agency works with watch houses, fashion brands, and private clientele who expect a level of discretion and quality that defines the Swiss way of doing business. We sat down with him in Zurich to talk about what luxury actually looks like from the inside, how the next generation of wealthy consumers is changing the industry, and what it takes to build an agency that the world's most demanding clients trust.

Elevated Magazines: Switzerland is known for quiet luxury, like watchmaking and private banking. How does Metro Models bring that Swiss sensibility into a more public industry like fashion?

David Ratmoko: Quiet confidence and modest beauty. These are the qualities reflected in the models we cast for Swiss fashion brands.

EM: Your agency works with luxury maisons and Swiss watch houses. What do clients at that level expect from a casting that the wider industry might not realise?

DR: People assume luxury brands and watch houses only shoot big-budget campaigns with celebrity ambassadors. Beneath those visible campaigns, there is a constant flow of look-book shoots, e-commerce shoots, and work where the model is unrecognizable because only their hands or arms appear in the frame.

EM: What separates a campaign that feels genuinely luxurious from one that's merely expensive?

DR: A genuinely luxurious production involves a large team of contributors on set, from a top photographer, stylist, make-up artist, and location scout to a top model. Every element has to be at that level.

EM: Wealthy consumers today are younger and more discreet, less interested in loud branding. How is that changing the kind of faces luxury clients ask you for?

DR: There is a clear correlation between the choice of models and the changing target audience. Any visible enhancement, lip filler, breast augmentation, nose correction, is a definite no. Even more socially accepted changes like hair dye or aggressive body toning are increasingly seen as unnatural.

EM: Zurich has the highest concentration of luxury retail in Switzerland and a very private clientele. How has that shaped the kind of agency Metro Models has become?

DR: Trunk shows and store presentations are very common here. Luxury brands invite their private clients to the boutique to preview new collections in an exclusive setting, very different from a large runway show. That kind of intimate, discreet work never makes it to the billboards.

EM: What's a detail of agency life at this level that would surprise readers who've only seen luxury fashion from the outside?

DR: The level of availability is the same as any service provider to luxury clients. Agents are expected to answer the phone at night and on weekends, and to replace models at short notice if the direction of a shoot has changed at the last minute.