From restaurants to hotels, furniture to space modules, the French designer Philippe Starck has put his ingenious stamp on more than 10,000 designs. We caught up with him at L’Avenue, the buzzy, 1940s-inspired restaurant he designed at Manhattan’s Saks Fifth Avenue.
ELLE Decor: When you’re hired for projects, are you given the freedom to create from scratch?
Philippe Starck: It’s impossible to tell me what to do. Ideas come to me intuitively. With L’Avenue, I knew that I had to bring together three elements: New York, Saks, and a bi-level space. My icon of an elegant woman is Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany’s. In designing the restaurant, I visualized what this elegance would look like today. Upstairs is an ivory jewel box for a nice meal or tea, and downstairs is more casual, like a ski chalet. It’s the yin to the yang.
ED: Where did you find the furniture for the space?
PS: I sourced it myself at flea markets and small stores all over the world. Every object has a story or purpose.
ED: Can you talk about your upcoming projects?
PS: I am working on a microscope that will allow you to see a lot more closely than existing microscopes, as well as on a machine where you can get a shot without a needle. A light will open the skin, and the liquid will go into the cells. I am creating eyeglasses that bend and twist. My father was a plane engineer, and I grew up with a heritage of technology and invention, so these projects are super exciting to me.
Continuing to develop my perfume brand, Starck Paris, is another focus. I want to make more perfumes that are asexual. I think the biggest revolution of the next generation will be the end of sexuality. I’ll have more scents that can be worn by anybody.
This story originally appeared in the May 2020 issue of ELLE Decor.
