"I strive to create useful objects, not to make decoration for the sake of it."

“When I was young, I wasn’t very aware of objects. Today, I’m so sensitive to them that I only keep a few of my own objects at home. I would hate to feel invaded by my own designs, but I enjoy being surrounded by the work of others, like Eileen Gray, Pierre Charpin and Maarten van Severen. I’m also addicted to books, to the point where I rarely allow myself to visit design museums because I nearly always leave the shop with yet more books.

My office is in the 10th arrondissement in Paris—one of my favorite parts of the city. Like the seaside coast of Brittany where I grew up—where the wind and rain seem to leave their marks in the shapes of people’s faces— Paris leaves a mark on its people. There’s a certain rhythm in the French capital that’s shaped from the speed ...