Christophe Pillet

Background

Christophe Pillet was born on 28 August 1959 in Montargis, France, and lives and works in Paris. Flexform says he graduated from the National School of Fine Arts of Nice in 1985; he then went on to the Domus Academy in Milan, working there alongside Michele De Lucchi, Carlotta de Bevilacqua and Martine Bedin. French Wikipedia puts the Domus Academy diploma in 1986 and adds that he stayed in Milan for four years of that collaboration.

Signature Style

Pillet's own guiding principles, as Flexform quotes them, are lucidity of expression and the search for simplicity. French Wikipedia describes his work through the seductive elegance of its forms and a natural, evident simplicity of line, and quotes him (translated from French) as seeking not the extraordinary but to reveal what is beautiful and moving in the ordinary.

Notable Works

After Milan he worked in Paris alongside Philippe Starck, which French Wikipedia dates from 1989 to 1993, and opened his own agency in Paris in 1993. French Wikipedia names clients including Cappellini, Kartell and Driade in Italy, Shiseido and Shu Uemura in Japan, Emeco and Whirlpool in the United States, and Veuve Clicquot, Lacoste and L'Oréal in France. Its award list includes the 2012 Wallpaper Design Award for the Rive Droite armchair for Ceccotti Collezioni and the 2014 Wallpaper Design Award for the Shibuya vases for Kartell. For Flexform he designed Echoes, First Steps and Any Day in 2020; the designer page also lists the Haiku stool, Mate and Echoes Outdoor.

Legacy

Paris's furniture show gave him its designer-of-the-year title in 1994, and his international awards include the Red Dot, the Wallpaper Design Award and the Prix d'Excellence. Flexform counts him among the most acclaimed French designers in the world, with projects that range from product design to hotels and boutiques.