“�e are nearly ide�tical in the wa� we view the �mportance of looking at the past, to not lose tradition, to not �ose crafts’ knowledg�” How does Baccarat’s history of crafting crystal inspire? Crafting crystal is a very unique process and it never really changes. What has changed is their movement towards the design world and the design scene in the late twentieth century. Now, look at what we are doing as a company, which is basically celebrating the past, not only as for style and look and feel, but also as techniques and craft. We overlap in how we use something, such as a technique. They really match the way we work in the studio. We are nearly identical in the way we view the importance of looking at the past, to not lose tradition, to not lose crafts’ knowledge and also, to not lose sight of the ability of people. How did Baccarat and Marcel Wanders studio blend their best qualities to forge beautiful things together for the future? What we brought into the collection almost since the beginning, was the connection with a different material. We started using marble and crystal together. These are very different materials, but also very similar, as they are both strong materials. So, working with Baccarat was a great experience of bringing our skills together, literally. We unified two materials from the past which are linked to craft and we brought them together. Our approach is similar as well. We spoke of details, materials and quality in the same manner. Not working with machines, we aligned our processes to ensure craftsmanship was our benchmark in every piece we created together. How did you drive cultural innovation working with Baccarat? What is most innovative about working with Baccarat was creating an interpretation of their skills and traditions. We were able to bring our pursuit of beauty and design aesthetic to an industry that has been around for centuries. We were innovating probably in the typology, in the approach, in the variety and the eclectics of mixing materials and processes together. We innovated through the color technique that was not used before. Also in the New Antique approach that features the various cuts, creating new results. That’s how we innovate. When we speak about craft, we don’t necessarily innovate technically, but culturally. “�arble and crystal togethe�” Where there any challenges in creating this collection? One of the challenges was perfecting the connection of the pieces to the crystal. Crystal is not plastic and therefore, it is less tolerant – maybe giving one or two millimetres. Other challenges arose around the weight and cost of each of the items we’ve created with Baccarat. Our goal throughout, as we found challenges was to keep the craftsmanship. As we pushed the creations, we were careful to avoid moving things closer to the industrial, therefore less human process. 81
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