Design
Inspirations
Men's Vogue asks leaders of the design world to choose five enduring inspirations.
- Yves Béhar
- The founder of fuseproject, the San Francisco-based design and branding firm he established in 1999. He currently chairs the Industrial Design Department at California College of the Arts. Men's Vogue has featured his $100 laptop, a project of design and development. Béhar draws his inspiration from everyday items like pens and whimsical creations like Joe Colombo's modular chair.
- Marc Benda
- Originally from Switzerland, Benda joined veteran New York gallery owner Barry Friedman as a junior staffer in 2002 and quickly moved up to director. Their new business in Chelsea will be split between two galleries: the Friedman Benda and the mainstay Barry Friedman Ltd. Benda's strong suit is contemporary design, but his inspiration are in a classic vein, from ancient civilizations, to mother nature.
- Dror Benshetrit
- A graduate of the Design Academy in Holland and the Center for Art Education in Israel, Benshetrit is the youngest addition to Caniato's New York agency Culture & Commerce. In less than a year he's been contracted to design everything from footwear to architecture and draws his inspiration from playful pieces, like this 1967 "Snoopy" table lamp.
- Michael Bierut
- A former vice president of graphic design at Vignelli Associates, Bierut has been a partner at the design firm Pentagram in New York since 1990. He was national president of AIGA from 1998 to 2001. Currently he is a senior critic at the Yale School of Art and a founding writer at the blog Design Observer. His inspiration includes the iconic Vignelli subway map recently featured in Men's Vogue.
- Fernando Campana
- Trained in architecture, Fernando teamed up with his brother Humberto and burst onto the scene as part of MoMA's 1998 show, "Projects 66." The pair, known as the Campana brothers, often base their work around found objects, which they combine in exuberant ways, crafting a wild variety of chairs made from wire, wool, wood and toys. His inspirations include a number of chairs, like this Honey Pop by Tokujin.
- Humberto Campana
- One half of a design duo known as the Campana brothers, this Brazilian practices his amalgam of art and design out of a converted garage in São Paulo. Humberto holds a degree in law, but more recently has been teaching sculpture and industrial design. For inspiration he draws on classic works, like these Akari lamps by Isamu Noguchi.
- Michele Caniato
- The President of Material ConneXion, a clearinghouse for innovative materials, and president of Culture & Commerce, a design management consultancy that represents Philippe Starck, Marcel Wanders, Dror Benshetrit, and Yves Béhar among others. Caniato draws inspiration from the strength and simplicity of Italian design, like this Superleggera chair.
- Omar Freilla
- The executive director of Green Worker Cooperatives in the South Bronx, Freilla grew up in the area and is now creating an employee-owned business that allows profits to remain in the community. With a master's degree in environmental science, he draws his inspiration from the organization of nature.
- Tomáš Libertiny
- A graduate of the Design Academy Eindhoven, Libertiny counts among his creations the Honeycomb Vase, which he builds in collaboration with a swarm of bees. The vase has show at Droog Design's annual collection, Milan's Salone del Mobile, Design Miami, and, most recently, in the MoMA show "Design and the Elastic Mind." Libertiny's inspirations — a lighter, an auto and a violin — seamlessly combine form and function.
- Claudio Luti
- Owner and chairman of the Italian company Kartell since 1988. The business began by producing plastic products such as car accessories, household goods and laboratory articles, but during the 1990's, Kartell developed its collection with contributions from international designers such as Ron Arad, Ferrucio Laviani, Enzo Mari, and Patricia Urquiola. Luti's inspiration includes boats and bespoke suits.
- Ambra Medda
- Design Miami's director and co-founder was inspired to create her event during a 2004 visit to her ancestral island homeland of Sardinia. Medda fielded a call on her mobile in the middle of a pasture that green-lighted her audacious, seductively simple plan: What if one event brought together the increasingly incestuous worlds of art and design? Her inspiration includes the buzzworthy vase created by Tomáš Libertiny.
- Robin Page
- The head of interior design for Bentley, Page is responsible for the intricately crafted leather of this historic line of luxury cars. The design sensibility of a Bentley flows both ways, as Page demonstrates with his choices of objects, like the Zeppelin Docking Station, that have inspired, and been inspired by, the Bentley line.
- Barton Quillen
- Co-owner (with Giovanni Negrisin) of Prague Kolektiv, a boutique specializing in mid-century modernism, specifically, furniture made in Czechoslovakia from the 1920's to the 1960's. Quillen's inspiration comes from a range of nautically themed items: the Riva boat, Rolex Submariner watch, and dazzle camouflage warships.
- Inga Sempé
- Born in Paris in 1968, Sempé graduted from ENSCI-Les Ateliers in 1993. She was a fellow at Villa Medici before opening her own studio in Paris in 2001. In 2003 she was awarded the Grand Prix de la Création and has since designed for Edra, Cappellini and Baccarat. Her inspirations include the mutable forms of umbrellas and the Eclisse Lamp by Magistretti.
- Marcel Wanders
- This Dutch industrial designer is the art director and co-owner of the design label Moooi. Wanders works on architectural and interior design and has recently been branching out into home appliances and beach accessories. Editor of the 2005 International Design Yearbook, he is inspired by offbeat design, like this Philippe Starck teddy bear.
- Richard Wright
- Since 2000 this Chicago-based collector has been hosting intelligent, eclectic design auctions to a growing audience. Wright draws inspiration from his city, especially Chicago's Millennium Park, with its concert pavilion designed by Frank Gehry.
- More from mensvogue.com
- Yves Béhar chooses five enduring inspirations
- Marc Benda chooses five enduring inspirations
- Dror Benshetrit chooses five enduring design inspirations
- Michael Bierut chooses five enduring design inspirations
- Michele Caniato chooses five enduring design inspirations
- View all search results
More on MensVogue.com
Peak Performance
Fashion
Arts + Entertainment
Features
Blogs
Multimedia
