Born in Paris and graduated from the High School of Industrial Design in 1993,  Inga Sempé started her career as a designer in the same city in 2000. The collaborations with two companies like Edra and Cappellini, marked her debut, tracing the first lines of a career continued with brands from all over the world, through which his style passed, leaving his mark, in an intense way but without fanfare. Any examples? Hay , Ligne Roset , Wästberg  ,  Alessi ,  Luceplan , Mutina, Røros,  Moustache , Svenskt Tenn, Gärsnäs. Brands with a different concept, for which Sempé has designed products of different natures: from lamps to fabrics, from chairs to tiles. The common trait? Kindness, the delicacy of colors and lines, a touch of playfulness. Furniture and accessories by Sempé furnish, decorate and characterize but are completely devoid of the pretentiousness that some designers bring with them. What she designs puts us at ease, it is our friend, as well as making us the precious gift of making our house special. Perhaps the reason is that she herself feel at ease in art and creativity, not only because she has made it a profession but also because, since always, she breathes it at home: her father is the famous French drawer Jean Jacques Sempé, her mother the Danish painter and graphic designer Mette Ivers, her husband is Ronan Bouroullec. We talked to her about the variety of her production, and took advantage of her frankness to make her say something about a current theme but perhaps faced by many in a more rhetorical than substantial way: sustainability, on which Sempé has very clear ideas and an indirect message to companies.

You have designed many different types of objects, is there a common thread between them?

I always have the will to design an object that is pleasant to use, designed for intelligent industrialization and with a simplicity that is not boring and not at all minimalistic. Then, my goal is for these objects to appeal to young and old people.

Matin lamp by Hay

The  Matin lamp by Inga Sempé for Hay (2019)

Sustainability is one of today's big issues: what is the designer's responsibility in this area and what do you do personally to make your projects more sustainable?

The truth is that sustainability is a science, little known and little developed by companies. It never happens to me that a sustainability engineer is assigned by the company to improve the manufacture of things. Then it was shown that the materials declared sustainable by the companies that produce them are very few actually. My way of doing sustainable things is to design quality objects, not just gadgets or copies. And I also avoid being inspired by the horrendous trends of the moment because they make it so that you don’t want them anymore after a short time, because you're tired of seeing the same things around ...

Vitrail by Magis

The Vitrail  mirrors by Inga Sempé for Magis (2018)

What is your relationship with social media and how does it handle this aspect of your job?

I personally take care of my Instagram account and that's it. We take photos of my objects in the studio.

Meteo by Golran

The  Meteo rug by Inga Sempé for Golran (2016)

Can you give us a preview of what you're working on now?

Right now I'm working on a sofa with Hay, a new tile collection for Mùtina, some new projects with Magis, and a new collaboration with Glass Italia. I am also designing casseroles for a French company.

Ruché by Ligne Roset

The  Ruché sofa by Inga Sempé for Ligne Roset (2014)

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