Philippe Starck at the Salone del Mobile 2026

While Philippe Starck speaks live at Milan Design Week 2026 in designboom's "Room for Dreams" about visions, utopias and the power of imagination, one realisation seems surprisingly constant: the world's most famous industrial designer still prefers to think in terms of possibilities rather than products.

For decades, Starck has been shaping our everyday lives with iconic everyday objects - and at the same time questioning them. For Cassina, he has now designed the "Hotte" wicker chair, inspired by the high fruit baskets for farm labourers, which has now been unveiled.

In an interview with us, he once revealed why he would have much rather become a composer. Perhaps because he was never just interested in form, but always about the invisible behind it.

And anyone who listens to him today realises that this dream is far from over.

Mr Starck, just over six years ago, you presented three perfumes and added a new facet to your work. A designer who creates fragrances - what attracted you to it?

I have spent my whole life translating my dreams and visions into material forms. But I actually hate materiality and deep down I've always wanted to free myself from it. By developing perfumes now, I can fulfil my dream of abstraction. The most important thing for me in this design process is to translate my intuitions and visions into a chemical formula, into a fragrance. The design of the bottles is not a big issue for me.

Fragrances tell stories. What do you want to tell us with your fragrances?

Although they are interlinked, the three fragrances each tell their own story. We have invented a new language, broken new ground, created a new mental space. With "Peau de Soie", we explore the mystery of women. It appears to be a feminine fragrance, but there is also a shadow hidden within, a charming, almost masculine heart beating within. "Peau de Pierre, on the other hand, conveys an ambivalent masculinity. You smell a man's fragrance, but one that conceals a feminine secret at its core. It is a very complex fragrance. Some will love it, some will hate it, but it expresses my image of the man. "Peau d'Ailleurs", on the other hand, is an asexual fragrance. It's the smell of someone or something we don't know yet. My point is that you don't necessarily have to choose to be either a man or a woman. You can also be something completely different, somewhere completely different. Each of these perfumes reflects a part of me, a part of all of us. Depending on my mood, I switch back and forth between all three fragrances.

How does it work, translating stories into a fragrance and then bottling them? Can you tell us about the creative process and the multi-layered collaboration behind this project?

I had my own fragrance organ when I was younger, but I quickly realised that I didn't have what it takes to be a master perfumer. So I had to rely on the help of professionals for this very personal project. Over the years, I was repeatedly approached by perfume companies, but it never really worked out until I came across PYD. Together with the three master perfumers Daphné Bugey, Annick Ménardo and Dominique Ropion, we were able to develop a new language, a new creative process to translate my dreams, visions and explorations into fragrances. With their personality and skill, they have succeeded in transforming my words into fragrances.

Until you turned to perfumes, you worked exclusively with materials. What is particularly important to you here?

Whether it's a toothbrush or a hotel, the added value that my creations bring to the people who use them or spend time in them has always been important to me. For me, every design - in whatever form - must improve life for as many people as possible. I like to create scenarios where people can feel more beautiful, more confident, more in love. Places are connected to feelings, it's about an experience, a full-bodied experience that encompasses what you see, the sounds, the spirit, the culture - everything. Whether I'm designing an object or a place, I always use the same parameters: Creativity, rigour, political or sexual statements, ecology and much more. I am proud of the contribution I have made to the democratisation of design.

You are known as a master of reduction. If we consider the creation of a perfume as the creation of something immaterial, is this perhaps the logical next step towards even greater reduction? Is this perhaps the ultimate form of reduction, the departure from the material, from materiality as such?

The only thing I have always wanted to challenge and question is materiality. That may sound strange coming from a designer, but it's true. I was one of the first to explore transparency and design transparent furniture. When you create an object, the materiality, dimensions and dimensions of this object cannot be reduced because these properties are necessary. But you can decide whether you want to make it visible or not. And if it is transparent, you can decide whether you want to see it or not. That's the idea behind the "Louis Ghost" and "La Marie" chairs. It's a first step towards dematerialisation. Today, we are in a position to continue the process of dematerialisation. Bionism is the next central step in our evolution. This development has already begun: In the next few years, all the useless things in our environment will disappear step by step. We will carry the computers and telephones inside us, the lighting will come from the pictures on the wall, the stereo systems will disappear into the walls, and so on. Nothing will last. This will finally give us space for feelings and emotions. And all constraints will also disappear, because bionism means carrying everything you need within you. In 15 to 20 years, there will be no more design.

You once said that you are interested in music because music can be seen as a form of design that is highly effective but requires an absolute minimum of material substrate. Do you plan to compose music yourself one day?

One of my biggest regrets in life is that I didn't become a composer, because I am made entirely of music. Music is the most perfect abstraction. I got to know some singers and composers, for example Lou Reed. Before he died, I once said to him: "I should actually pay you royalties, because the quality of my work depends solely on the quality of your music." Music works through sound, like perfume through smell - these are the fastest and most elementary ways in which our brain can absorb information. That's why I live entirely in music and perfume. Perfume and music are my sanctuaries.

→ You can find inspiration, innovations and timelessly beautiful design in our digital design special for the Salone del Mobile 2026

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