Strong presence

Anna Moldenhauer: Rethinking an existing furniture design is a balancing act - the formal presence of the existing furniture must not be alienated, the new refinement should be a further development. How did you start this task for Thonet, with sketches, mood boards or a completely different exploration of ideas?

Jil Sander: At the beginning, it gave me a headache that I wasn't allowed to intervene in the shape of the Marcel Breuer cantilever chair. I had the chairs delivered and used the mood board to think about prints and colours. The ideas came quickly, that's what happens in my head. I didn't use sketches because they are only interesting for form variants, but the reinterpretation was a question of material and colour.

You choose the phrase ‘presence of the existing’.

Jil Sander: I had the impression that the chair had lost some of its presence because it had been seen too often. To renew this presence, I worked on its sensuality.

You and Marcel Breuer have something in common: ahead of your time, you revolutionised your respective design disciplines with a feel for the aesthetics of the essential. What would you have liked to have asked Marcel Breuer during his lifetime?

Jil Sander: Perhaps whether his craftsmanship helped him in design and how he arrived at the swinging form. I would also ask him about his collaboration with Thonet and the creative synergies.

In times of climate crisis, thoughtful consumption is more important than ever - how can timelessness be achieved in modern design?

Jil Sander: By dispensing with superfluous decoration, which is easy to get tired of, and by focussing an object on its time of origin. Above all, of course, through the choice of material and first-class workmanship. Compromises are fatal when it comes to durability because they become unpleasantly noticeable over time. You have to be proud of the flawlessness of an object and feel the care that has gone into it, a certain complicity and familiarity with the designers and craftsmen.

Why did you decide to develop two design lines for Thonet, ‘Serious’ and ‘Nordic’?

Jil Sander: ‘Nordic’ corresponds to my feeling for the zeitgeist, which is characterised by understatement and a return to nature. With ‘Serious’ I was thinking of an inspiring environment for concentrated mental work and the development of ideas. I wanted to offer the imagination a creative environment.

Why did you choose the colours Graphite Ruby Red, Graphite Green, Graphite Blue and Graphite Black for ‘Serious’?

Jil Sander: My considerations began with the chrome frame, which I wanted to change because it strongly defines the Breuer original. When I found the glossy titanium metal alloy, it was clear that the colour of the leather had to be restrained. So I used dark shades of graphite. I also wanted the leather to have a matt and light texture.

Thanks to the combination of nickel silver finish, wickerwork and light-coloured wood, the purist form of ‘S64 Nordic’ is given a visual warmth. What was important in achieving this new effect of the material ensemble?

Jil Sander: The leather used is textured so that the light is caught in it and interesting colour effects are created despite the restrained leather tones. We also worked with the wood, oiled and lightly pigmented, and bleached the wickerwork to create attractive nuances and invite the eye to linger. The interplay with the matt metal surface creates visual complexity and a sophisticated overall impression.

Your work is characterised by perfection, can you give an example of a detail of the Signature collection JS. Thonet collection that you and the team spent a particularly long time working on?

Jil Sander: In the end, it is important that all aspects communicate with each other and develop a tangible force. The attractive back view of the chairs was also important to me.

Why does matt leather go better with cantilever chairs than shiny leather?

Jil Sander: I could also imagine shinier leather, but then you would have to change all the other parameters. Because the chair had long been overshadowed by the chrome lustre, we felt that a more restrained, more mysterious look was appropriate at the time.

What must be present in the vision so that old and new harmonise as a result?

Jil Sander: This point was not left to my free decision, because the unchanging form was already fixed. I tried very hard to make it look fresh and to give it a contemporary identity.

You create a design that you never tire of. Which ideas in furniture design, on the other hand, have you ever grown tired of?

Jil Sander: I don't like commercial calculations that much.

When is design, be it for fashion or furniture, ‘right’?

Jil Sander: That's the hundred thousand dollar question. In any case, the spirit of the times has something to say about it.

JS . THONET – A PERSONAL INTERPRETATION BY JIL SANDER
Via Brera 16
20121 Milan

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