How does someone become a designer? It used to happen like this: design school to trade show to design studio to (for the lucky ones) having work picked-up by a manufacturer and thereby joining the cabal of known names within design. The pools we fished from as scouts, manufacturers, buyers and media were shallow. We could list ten design schools of pedigree, five ‘emerging talent’ sections at fairs, and a handful of braver manufacturers who acted as incubators; and together, we birthed the new generation of design talent into the industry. It was all very safe and chummy. Everyone wanted to be Philippe Starck.
Thank goodness the industry – if we can even call it that – is weirder now. It is certainly more wonderful for it. We might lament the chaos of the forces that govern our lives, but these same forces have introduced a rich sense of possibility in how design and designers don’t just emerge, but make a living. Technology has liberated manufacturing possibilities, communication and routes to market. The lack of state funding for design education is woeful, but it has driven privately funded initiatives and community enterprises to step in. The design industry was once a fairly impenetrable, top-down establishment. Today, it looks more like an energetic grassroots movement.
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Denne historien er fra January 2025-utgaven av Wallpaper.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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COOL RUNNINGS
Palace founder Lev Tanju is bringing his own unexpected brand of weirdness and love of eclectic mash-ups to Fila's new contemporary line
LIVING COLOUR
Mexico's San Miguel de Allende is home to a bold young crowd of talent that's thriving off the city's brightly-hued heritage
STARS ASCENDING
In a rapidly changing world, the route designers take to discover their calling is increasingly circuitous. We profile ten creatives forging their own paths to success
SUITE DREAMS
Cathay Pacific’s new aircraft interiors turn the inflight experience into an art form, upgrading the business-class cabin for the next generation of flyers
Brutal harmony
The Escheresque Italian villa designed by Fausto Bontempi for sculptor Claudio Caffetto
LOCAL HERO
London studio Holloway Li’s recent makeover of Polish hotel Puro Poznan is right up our street
STAR TURNS
An exhibition at Louvre Abu Dhabi unveils the stellar shortlist for this year's Richard Mille Art Prize
SCREEN GEM
A multifaceted residence in Beverly Hills puts the beauty of potentiality in the frame
SOFT SPOT
We've taken a shine to Bottega Veneta's collaboration with Flos on a special edition of a Gino Sarfatti lamp
Between the lines
Frequently drawing comparisons with Francis Bacon, painter George Rouy is gaining peer points for his use of classic techniques to distort the human form