Tell us about your new product for Lodes.

We designed this bubble with the idea of floating elements on the boat; the water and everything surrounding it are very light floating elements.

The important point is that the electricity is coming down, but you don’t see the wire, so it looks like it’s tied up with the string from your shoes. There are some technical tricks to bring the electricity down so you don’t need to hang so many wires when you have one lamp.

This lamp is lovely when there is only one in your house, [like in] your bathroom, but it is also interesting when you have a big space to have many bubbles that reflect the light that you can see. Then all these little wires go up, like magic, into the ceiling, and you have a light where you don’t see so much of all this action that usually comes with a lamp. So, there is something technical, [yet] something is a bit more poetic about it. 

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You’ve designed everything from furniture to lighting to interiors. Of these, do you have a favourite that you enjoy most?

No, I enjoy the process and I love the job. I like it even more when we work with a factory that has a specific capacity—a savoir-faire—that they are very specialised in, like Baxter with the leather. So, we do all these exercises with them in leather or, like Lodes, where they specialise in light. So, we use something that is theirs, and I add something that is mine, but then it is done in their own capacity.

How would you describe your style?

My own style? Oh, I don’t know... “free”?

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Would you say your style has evolved over the years?

Yes, of course. Everything changes; we change because we love things, we travel, we look, we smell, we eat—we change.

And do you like evolving?

Yes. I like change, but I also like tradition. It depends on the situation, but I like both.

How does your design process usually go?

Everything starts with a meeting—with a person or the factory—and then we find something to love about each other. After that, I write a story or movie for my part.

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Do you believe that design is storytelling?

Yes, there is a narrative. You may not recall it or be involved in it, but there is one.

Personally, do you have a favourite material?

I like everything reflective, like glass—everything that somehow reflects the light.

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Having lived in Asia and also experienced working in the region, how would you say working in Asia differs from working in Europe?

It’s always a matter of techniques and materials. In Asia, I can use techniques that are impossible to use in Europe. I have materials that we cannot find in Europe, which is very special.

Also, I like the people very much, and I have learned to appreciate another set of values that differs from mine, so I’m very fascinated by that. Also, if I think about my interior jobs in Asia, I like them because the time frame [on projects] is always very short. The time frame is always much longer in Europe, and people are late, resulting in delay after delay. I’m fortunate because I work with very good people—almost all of them are women who are very efficient— so we can complete the projects quickly, and everybody is happy.

Do you feel that being a female designer influences your work?

I have no answer to this question because I work in my own way—maybe my design is not so masculine, but it’s natural. I don’t approach design differently because I am a woman, but because I am an individual.

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What and who inspires you?

The world! I’m very curious, it’s almost like I have antennae for new things, and I like travelling. Travel is not [ just about] going to Singapore or Japan—even though it also [involves] going to Singapore—but I can travel every day, or during the Salone—it’s the way you approach the discovery of the world. Inspiration is everywhere, and can happen all the time.

So, I capture things in 24 hours and then think of ideas—whether it’s a smile, a smell, or whatever—and everything goes in a basket. So when we talk about the process when we have a project, it’s actually very fast. I pull up something from that big “container” and I put it together, and this is very fast because I collect images all the time.

How would you sum up your new design for Lodes in a few words?

Imagine that you are blowing bubbles in your house—it’s playful, but also refined and elegant.

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