GT
… for a stroll?
OH
Sort of. I visit trade fairs, museums, galleries and I rely on recommenda-
tions from my network. I recently met Neri & Hu in New York, the Chinese
designer duo with whom we developed the Lantern Light luminaires. They
introduced me to a Texan who told me about the big creative scene in Dallas,
which I now want to see for myself. Sometimes it also happens that the
dealers I meet spontaneously show me their city, just as I do for visitors to
Munich. You discover things that are not mentioned in any travel guide.
Still – I have never made it up the Eiffel Tower.
GT
You are a wheelchair user. What are the challenges of travelling?
OH As a wheelchair user, you acquire a certain pragmatism: what will be possi-
ble? What will not? This question defines everyday life, and you immediately
put a tick next to the results. I recently met an eco-activist who travels to
the Arctic in a small ship, taking a handful of passengers with her. Of course,
I want to see the polar bears. So, my first question is: can I get on board
in a wheelchair? Yes, I can. If I couldn’t have, I would have thought: I tried, it
didn’t work, I shall ask again in five years’ time, maybe the ship will have
been modified and the conditions will be better. And sometimes you just
ignore the dangers. I’ve already tobogganed down the World Cup bobsleigh
run in St. Moritz, and the ClassiCon team, who know me well, recently
gave me a tandem parachute jump as a gift.
GT
When deciding whether to include a product in the collection, you rely on
your “gut feeling,” as you call it …
OH Exactly. I have to be able to identify with a design.
GT
What can prompt this feeling?
OH Everything really. The material, for example: I’ve been a cork lover for a long
time; I think the lightness of it is wonderful. I also love marble or untreated,
open-pored leather. It can be the texture of a surface, or a particularly
surprising idea – but I often only realise this later. At first, there is simply
a positive reflex.
GT
Is this instinct a family trait? You come from a textile dynasty; your great-
grandfather was Hugo Boss; your father Jochen turned the company into a
global brand.
OH Sure, the haptic sensitivity comes from my father, who could recognise the
composition of a material simply by feeling it. My love of design, art and
architecture was mainly influenced by my mother.
GT
Did you grow up with furniture by Eileen Gray?
OH Yes, I did! And with other classics. At home in Metzingen, there was not
only her Day Bed, the curved Monte Carlo Sofa and the Adjustable Table,
there were also armchairs and the lounger by Le Corbusier. My father took
his daily nap on it – arms on his stomach, keys in his hand – waking up the
moment he dropped the keys: a twenty-minute power nap in the middle of
the living room, while the sounds from the kitchen or the children were
just white noise for him.
GT
In the furniture industry, design extensions, adaptations and material varia-
tions are a matter of course, but classics are considered almost untouchable.
Nevertheless, you have launched some of Eileen Gray’s designs, including
the Adjustable Table, with a black instead of a chrome-plated frame. Why
did you do that? And above all: how did you achieve that?
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