Q1 When did you first want to be a designer?
Since I was a little boy, I could be found in my father's workshop where I was building all kinds of stuff with his tools. My father was a cabinet maker; I think I just grew into it.

Q2 What's a highlight of your recent design career?
Last month we were rewarded with a DME (Design Management Europe) award. It's not just an award for one design, this award means that the company I started from scratch just a few years ago is now considered to be amongst the very best and as an example for the whole design industry in Europe. I already received a lot of design awards, but this one is also recognition for all other talents that you need to build a brand.

Q3 What is your greatest inspiration when you're making pieces?
People are my only real inspiration. I get it by observation.

Q4 Would you tell us about your brand? What is the concept behind it?
I only want to design something that is not just a variation on something that already exists; the new design should really improve something or be an answer to the rapidly changing world and the consequences of that on the way we live our lives today and in the future. They are all designed to make life more enjoyable, and to improve the time that we spend with each other. These designs are more than just furniture; I like to call them "tools for togetherness".

Q5 Who is your dream collaborator?
They are dead or too young. About the dead, like Leonardo Da Vinci and others, I can't change anything anymore. But about the young ones: I just have to wait. Maybe it is a foolish idea, pure wishful thinking I should not focus on, but I would love to work with one of my children one day. I would like to pass on what I know, but would never force them in that direction, they will have to make their own choices.

In that sense I consider Leonardo Da Vinci as the greatest designer of all times, but I would prefer Carlo Mollino (Italian designer, architect, artist, photographer, race car driver and ski expert) as an example, as I believe he had a lot more fun than Leonardo during his life!

Q10 If you can go anywhere in the world where would you go?
I've visited many, many places, and often made the consideration if I would prefer to live there instead of in Belgium. I've decided not to make these considerations any more: there is something good and bad about every place. My home base is Belgium, where my family lives, and despite the fact that we can't enjoy good weather all the time, life has an exceptional level of quality. My profession makes it possible for me to travel around the world, to experience a lot of different cultures and to meet lots of people. If I would not have that possibility, I would go nuts, so I hope to be able to continue to do so for a very long time. It's a good balance and I consider myself as very fortunate.

Q13 What do you see Japan from you?
Japan fascinates me in many ways. First of all I love the food; it is prepared with such respect and skills. And I really like sake: I prefer it very dry and cold. Then there is this feeling for proportions, materials and style that has a level of harmony that only Japanese can reach. I really should find the time to travel through the whole country, instead of just visiting Tokyo. I wonder what new designs I would be able to think of with the inspiration I would gather from such a trip.

Q14 Favorite cocktail and where to drink it?
I discovered Caipirinha long before Brazil shared its best kept secret with the rest of the world. In my early thirties I traveled from Sao Paulo to Porto Alegre, from city to city, and the only thing I brought home were the ingredients to make a perfect Caipirinhia. When I order one, I hate it when it's not made in the only real original way.

Q6 Would you tell us about a project that you are working on right now?
The "tools for togetherness" philosophy can be applied to all my works, but with this design we are working on now, we managed to put that into practice for at least 200%. It's a 4 meter diameter lounging dome, we called it BeHive. This summer in my own private garden (that's our companies laboratory) we've spend beautiful evenings with sometimes more than 20 people at the same time in this thing. Only one disadvantage: nobody feels like going home at a reasonable hour.

Q7 What do you think about a design industry in your country?
It is young and emerging. I hope that people like me might inspire others in my country to start something in design as well. This country that is known for fashion, chocolate and beer now is pushing its way into the design scene as well. On the other hand I don't like to think in territorial terms: am I Flemish (our region), Belgian, European...? Design is a global thing, and I am a globetrotter.

Q11 What's coming up in 2008? Any plans for exhibition?
2008 will be a crazy year for us. Early January we will start with the furniture fair in Cologne, and then we will focus on our large exhibition in Milan during the furniture fair in April. In September there's Maison and Objet in Paris and Spoga in Cologne. The October Interieur Biennale in Kortrijk (Belgium) is near our hometown and very important for us, therefore we organize an event called Exterieur at the same time. When the doors of the fair close, Exterieur opens for all night party! After the 10 days that this takes, we are like zombies, but it's an amazing event and we would not miss it for the world. Fortunately this is only every 2 years. And then there are lots of events and fairs that are done by our partners and dealers. In the past we've supported such events in New York, Tokyo, Melbourne, Sydney, Hong Kong, London, Stockholm, Warsaw, Oslo, Porto, Napoli and many others. We'll see what's coming up this year, but you can imagine that we will be busy.