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design What Xavier Brought Back — To design journalists, Milan indicates a week-long orgy of gossip, bitchery, free champagne and furniture. But what does it look like to the people doing all the work? Xavier Lust lays bare his Milan diary Writer Hettie Judah Tuesday 15 th After my fl ight from Brussels on the fi rst night there was a cocktail reception at Baleri (01) . Of course I had visited many times to see the developments in the Sumo (02) chair’s production, but it was fi nished the night before the fair, so this was the fi rst time I’d seen it properly and saw the fabrics they had chosen for it. I loved the tweed – the Sumo is dressed by Cerrutti! I went on to Superstudio [in the Zona Tortona] where Indera (03) were presenting Flow, an aluminium-framed sofa that used my folding technique. I hadn’t seen the fi nished product before, but I’d chosen the fabrics myself from Luciano Marcato in Milan. There was a press tour there, and so I did some interviews. After that I went to a nice party organised by Karla Otto – she’s the n°1 PR, and all the events that she does are incredible. This was the New York Times event at the Bulgari hotel and everybody was there, the Bouroullecs, Starck, Ron Arad – the stars of the sector, as well as people like Miucia Prada, it was crazy. Before the party I had passed by MDF Italia's (04) showroom to see my two chair prototypes [the C-Chair and the S-Chair]. The showroom was closed but they know me and let me in. The chairs had been very well done but were still really prototypes; it’s fi ne that they were just displaying at the 74 — THE THIRD WORD showroom not at the fair, since the MDF stand is kind of my stand this year anyway. It would have been too much. Wednesday 16 th This morning was the opening of the fair. First I went to see the MDF stand, and then to Baleri. Afterwards I visited Maxdesign, but it seems that they didn’t make my prototype. After visiting the Indera stall, I had an interview with Austrian media, then a meeting with a Dutch magazine and a few more interviews and pictures. They talked to me about Belgian design. I told them I had nothing to do with Belgian design; it’s not my problem. I also met my friend Birgit Lohmann from Designboom (05) . Everybody loved the S-Table that I did last year, and some companies are now very hot to work with me. I had meetings with FIAM and Liv’it; both want to do projects. Serralunga also want a meeting; they work with people like Zaha Hadid, so it’s a thing to do. On Wednesday night I was with my friend Philippe Jousse of Jousse Entreprise in Paris. We were in a taxi with 3 or 4 people and Philippe called Karla Otto. That night she had organised a party in an incredible house in the centre of Milan. It was where Leonardo slept when he was making the Frecos, on one of the most chic streets in the city. It was a very select crowd. For the fi rst time I actually talked with Philippe Starck. I have seen him maybe 100 times before, but what was there to say? We stayed quite a long time, and were too late to get into the Wallpaper party, but we met with Nick Vinson (06) who is a very nice guy and gave us a bag from the party. After that we went in a group to dinner together at Baglioni, which is part of the Hotel Carlton. It’s somewhere that you can eat late, which is not easy to fi nd in Milan. It’s also the only restaurant in Milan where you can smoke. Thursday 17 th In the morning I had an appointment with Sarah Balmond of Monocle magazine– she’s planning to publish a piece on the house I designed in Ibiza, and other things. After that, Martha Griffi n, the director of Salone Satellite, invited me to eat at the VIP club restaurant because I had been asked to give a lecture at the Salone Satellite where I had started my career. I did the lecture at 15h00; there were not so many people there, maybe about 20; it was not very well organised. I made a tour of the Satellite and talked with
the young Brussels designers, then I met the Belgian ambassador to Italy and someone from the chamber of commerce. Milan will have a Universal Expo in 2015, and they were already working on the idea of promoting Belgium through fashion and design. I walked past the Estel (07) stall; they’re a company I designed a chair for in 2005; but I have heard nothing from them since them, no royalties, nothing. Then today I saw that they had my chair on show at their stand, badly produced. It’s strange to see your own chair like that. I met with Philippe Jousse and we left the fair at about 17h30; you never saw such chaos, it was worse than a heavy metal concert. There was a queue of more than one hour to get down to the Metro platform, and there was also an incredible queue for the taxis. We took a taxi, but with the traffi c it took an hour to get into Milan. I went back to my Hotel for half an hour, then to the Ron Arad exhibition. After that I had the Elle Decoration Design Award party –the fi rst thing I had to do was go in front of a camera so that they could fi lm me talking about what I thought of Elle Deco. Then I could start drinking Veuve Cliquot champagne. It was in the Versace Theatre, which was a really nice place for a party. There must have been 1000 people there, maybe more. I was going to collect my award with Bruno Fattorini [of MDF], but he didn’t see me, and he came onto the stage from the other side, so we ended up meeting in the middle. I kissed him like a father and said thanks to him for trusting me; he was the fi rst one, and he’s still there today. When we came off stage everyone was grabbing me. We escaped the Elle party and tried to get into the one for Established & Sons – it was too late, so we jumped from one party to another for a while. At the end we found the after-party for Established & Sons where there were a lot of caipirinhas. We fi nished at 3h30 or 4h00 in the morning, a little bit drunk. I was going to have to get up early; I had a meeting with Driade (08) at 9h30, and I had to see my assistant before that to get the last document. What Xavier Brought Back design 01. Baleri Italia High-design furniture company founded in 1984 by Enrico Baleri. Since 2004, Nino Cerruti has been majority shareholder. 02. Sumo chair Distinctively shaped upholstered armchair created for Baleri's 2008 collection by Xavier Lust. 03. Indera Young Belgian furniture company producing high-end sofas and modular seating. 04. MDF Italia Milan-based furniture design company under the creative direction of Bruno Fattorini. In 2000 they branched out to produce pieces by young designers from outside the company, of which Xavier Lust was one of the fi rst. 05. Designboom Authoritative design website offering resources, interviews, fora and courses. 06. Nick Vinson Special projects editor at Wallpaper* Magazine. 07. Estel 70-year-old Italian company, producing mainly corporate, but also domestic furnishings. Recently went through a period of acquisitions. 08. Driade Top-end Italian producer of home furnishings, kitchenware and objects. THE THIRD WORD — 75 © Xavier Lust
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Do not throw on the public domain.
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contents page 8 — THE THIRD WORD
Page 12:
the contributors It's a Word's Worl
Page 15 and 16:
The next few weeks’ agenda fi lle
Page 17 and 18:
Referential Meanings Mike Kelley is
Page 19 and 20:
Rapid Design China’s phenomenal r
Page 22 and 23:
the secret papers — Whether indul
Page 24: the secret papers Saturday, it's a
Page 28: the secret papers Stone Cold Chilli
Page 32 and 33: open sesame 01 Inside Anderlecht
Page 34 and 35: the movers and shakers 01 02 Behind
Page 36 and 37: the movers and shakers Behind the B
Page 38 and 39: ack in the days The Early Bird —
Page 40 and 41: the institution The Man Down Under
Page 42 and 43: three of the best Luxury Shopping B
Page 44 and 45: ehind closed doors Do You Remember
Page 46 and 47: ehind closed doors Do You Remember
Page 48 and 49: the culture briefi ng Creative Acco
Page 50 and 51: the culture briefi ng Creative Acco
Page 54: the culture briefi ng Creative Acco
Page 57 and 58: "Petal" Coat Paule KA In or Out the
Page 59: Skirt Sonia Rykiel, Leather Blouse
Page 63 and 64: Shirt Louisa Assomo, Underwear La P
Page 65 and 66: Mo of Soul duo Mo & Grazz What is y
Page 67 and 68: Karin Nuñez de Fleurquin Jewellery
Page 69 and 70: The Word & Cachemire Coton et Soie
Page 71 and 72: Prosse, the Name is Prosse From inc
Page 73: After days of negotiations, a meeti
Page 77 and 78: Hidden Appearances eye-opener THE T
Page 84 and 85: the word on the street — We fi rs
Page 86 and 87: the word on the street Kelly De Mey
Page 88 and 89: the word on the street Kelly De Mey
Page 90 and 91: our playlists Songs We Listen To Ni
Page 92 and 93: advertorial The Word & Marriott Hot
Page 94 and 95: advertisers' round up page 2 - 3 Pe
Page 96 and 97: the last word The Death of the Deve
Page 98: what's next Although budgetary conc
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