Review: The Design Lab Galerie kreo

The Design Lab Galerie kreo

Editorial direction by Clément Dirié
Flammarion

Known for its contemporary limited-edition designs, Galerie kreo was founded in 1999 by Clémence and Didier Krzentowski as a place for contemporary designers to experiment in. Most recently, fashion designer Virgil Abloh created a 20-piece graffiti-covered furniture collection called ‘Efflorescence’ for the studio, which took its cues from brutalist architecture and urban landscapes. Abloh is just one of many top designers – including Marc Newson, Martin Szekely, Jasper Morrison, Hella Jongerius and the Bouroullec brothers – who have been given carte blanche to create cutting-edge pieces that blur the borders between design and art and are regularly snapped up the likes of François Pinault, Ian Schrager and the late Karl Lagerfeld. This book offers a retrospective of the contemporary design from the galeries (in London and Paris), presented alongside key moments in design history. The book traces more than 120 exhibitions. An interview with the gallery’s founders, an illustrated retrospective of their exhibitions and tributes by Galerie kreo’s key supporters – including philosopher Christian Schlatter, design experts Marco Romanelli and Johanna Agerman Ross and artist Bertrand Lavier – weave together the story of this true design laboratory, where a culture of innovation has inspired new solutions in form and technique.