Art+Design

Art+Design >>

Didier Krzentowski

Philip Wood

History’s Limits

Star Power

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Through Wallpaper [Willis was a cofounder of the magazine with Tyler Brûlé] I saw a real opportunity to create a business in London by working with British-based designers. So many designers are forced to realize their designs through foreign manufacturers. I wanted to reverse the trend . . . by [creating] something where the wealth of U.K. talent could be realized with the ultimate goal of bringing overseas designers to us as well. I wanted to give designers a platform.

How do you choose the designers you work with?

We are about celebrating the individual. We don’t have a signature style or themed collections. We celebrate diversity. I do have to work with someone that I can have a long-term relationship with, though. I don’t want to do just one piece with a designer. I want a designer to take me somewhere I’ve never been before. So that narrows it down a bit.

What is your take on the relationship between design and art?

I find the arena of “design art” irritating. It’s like trying to hang design on the coattails of art. If [a design] is closer to art, then maybe that’s where it should be. The editions arena is nothing new, but the hype that it’s closer to art is new. Design has been pushed into the spotlight by auction houses, and it’s all about creating a new market sector, a new audience, a new way of viewing things.

What is the ultimate goal of your design laboratory?

I work with designers and one-off pieces because certain designs don’t quite stack up as production pieces. But that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be made. . . . My hope is that these pieces help us see things differently.

Why limited editions?

It’s a fantastic opportunity to push things, from manufacturing capabilities to technique. It allows designers to make mistakes. When you’re producing high volumes of production pieces, there’s little risk involved. There is a loss of spontaneity. Limited editions take design into a new and interesting world. Designers are allowed to create these interesting pieces, and things are learned from that process that can be taken into production. Plus, it puts these wonderful pieces into the world, and we can value them for their own existence.

What is your take on the big design fairs?

They do a very good job of creating awareness and business around design, but I’m not always sure about the quality that’s out there. I don’t take part in them because. . . I feel I lose control in a fair if I’m positioned next to pieces that don’t fit with mine. I want to push, and I don’t think fairs always reflect that way of thinking.

What emerging designers intrigue you?

I am interested in the design coming out of China now. They haven’t been exposed to Western design as they have to Western art. It’s only just happening now.

Name a design object you believe is destined to be a classic?

A table that we launched in Milan called Surface. It’s elegant, beautiful, fantastic and functioning. It was made by Terence Woodgate and John Barnard, who is the former technical director for Ferrari, using cutting-edge technologies. The table is two millimeters thick and four meters long, and it’s made of carbon fiber.

What do you think about the changing meanings of such terms as industrial design and prototype?

There are incredible software programs that are available today, so the [nature of the] prototype has changed. I do work with some designers who still make traditional prototypes using clay, cardboard and found objects, but this software means designs can be very honed before they even get into the production process. So prototype is not a dead word, but the process has changed. In the auction world, a prototype work has a value that is higher than the edition pieces. It’s something that people want to keep hold of. But even in our 10-piece editions, each one might be a little different.

What do you think the future holds for your business?