About what moves
“The idea of doing something that's really difficult is always interesting to me, and on many levels. I like to challenge myself and do what others can't, but I also like the idea of championing processes and methods that are actually lost or on the verge of disappearing."
Mark has many unique crafts, from the production of partitioned enamel to the art of creating a Japanese katana, and has recently started learning Netzke carving.
The Lockheed sun lounger appeared in 1988. This is the most famous item created by Mark Newson. Three years ago, at the Phillips auction in London, it was sold for 2 British pounds
Orgone chair, aluminium, lacquer, design by Mark Newson, 1993.
About your team
“I say no to a lot of things and you have to prioritize. I have many different projects, but at the same time I have a small studio - only 15 people. And this has been going on for 20 years. I could expand it to, say, 150 people, but I don't want to do that, I don't want to work like that. We are focused on a number of projects at the same time, but all of them are at different stages - some are only in the initial phase, others are at the completion stage. Everything I do as a designer, whether it's bags for Louis Vuitton or a super jet, takes less than two years from start to finish."
New collection of soft luggage for the Louis Vuitton brand, 2019.
I never dreamed of fame and money, I just created what I myself would like to have
Julia necklace for Boucheron, 2009. It took 2000 stones, 1500 hours of handwork to create, and the design is based on the idea of fractal division
About brands and companies
"Aerospace agencies and luxury brands have one thing in common - very high quality requirements. In addition, they have capabilities that allow me to implement some unusual ideas, and not just create a practical thing. I never applied, all the companies found me themselves."
Project for Fondation Cartier, 2004. The civil jet is named Kelvin40 after the famous XNUMXth-century British physicist Lord Kelvin and the main character of the designer's favorite film, Solaris by Andrei Tarkovsky.
New materials and technologies already exist and are often used in everyday life. Eventually, everyone will be able to afford a good design
About flights into space
"I used to dream of flying into space, but now I have children, and the priorities have changed a little. But if I had to fly, I would choose a Russian rocket, it seems more reliable."
Spaceplane, 2007. The concept was developed for Astrium, a division of EADS, the largest European rocket manufacturer.
About fame and DNA
"Maybe I was just lucky. Of course, it's nice to think that the fame of my things is based on recognition and continuity, because every project has a part of my DNA. I hope there is something timeless in both the chairs and the planes."
Embryo chair, aluminum, metal, textile, design by Mark Newson, 1988.
About friendship with Jony Ive
Newson and Apple's former chief design officer share a long-standing friendship. In 2013, they created a "space" table made of aluminum weighing one and a half (!) tons, and last year - a ring made of a solid diamond, with the sole purpose of selling it at Sotheby's and giving the proceeds to charity: to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria . And recently, they started a new design firm together called LoveFrom.
Mark Newson and Jony Ive. Portrait taken by the legendary Annie Leibovitz for Vanity Fair, 2013
“We never really think of it as a collaboration. Rather, it is a long conversation that we constantly have. We just sit, talk and draw together, think in the same spirit. Much of what drives us is caused by a sense of dissatisfaction with what surrounds us. "Anger" is probably too strong a word for that. But if we were satisfied with the way things were arranged, there would be nothing for us to do. You don't have to go far to see that things could be a lot better, and the reason they aren't is because no one thought enough about it, or they did, but they just didn't do it well."
