German designer Sebastian Herkner, 37, is named designer of the year at MAISON&OBJET 2019. The ongoing event in Paris, France runs from January18-22, 2019. Trained at the Offenbach University of Art and Design, Herkner is embarking on an ever-growing number of collaborations with international design houses (no less than 21 projects in the pipeline during 2018 for Moroso, Dedon, Thonet, and Lintello to name but a few). Over the course of the past decade, he has received some 30 awards in recognition of his innovative yet traditional work. 

A pretty astonishing career path for the design scene’s rising star who, since first setting up his studio in Offenbach am Main back in 2006, has unremittingly focussed on creating designs that fuse tradition with creativity, new technology with long established crafts. This is a man who boasts an unconditional love for traditional craftsmanship, a flair for colour, an eagerness to embrace everything global and to draw on other cultures, an appetite for traditional materials (ceramics, wood, marble, and leather), a desire to encompass sustainability, a keen eye for detail, a sense of respect for the time it takes to create a truly stunning piece.