Interview with Thomas Sauvage

The French designer Thomas Sauvage studied civil engineering and industrial design. Subsequently he specialised in the design of outdoor furniture and became a cofounder of the EGO company. Furniture created by EGO is manufactured in France and can be used both indoors and out. “To suggest elegance and evoke desire through clear forms and highquality materials,” is the aim of Thomas Sauvage. With “Tandem” he certainly achieved it. The design experts in this year’s red dot jury were impressed by the clear, high-quality and innovative design of the sunlounger and honoured the achievement with a “red dot: best of the best”.

Mr. Sauvage, what was the key idea behind your concept for the Tandem sunlounger? What is its philosophy?
Thomas Sauvage: Conviviality is the main thrust of this concept piece defining the French art of outdoor living. It started with the idea of a wide, square low table where you could share space and time with those you love. Two adjustable seats were placed on the low table which then was split in two halves to allow for multiple configurations: Tandem can therefore be used singularly, side by side or in opposite directions, with or without its specific sunshade.

According to what criteria did you select the materials for this
sunlounger?
Thomas Sauvage: The base material for all EGO furniture frames is aluminium with multiple lacquered finishes. Combining this with Batyline for the seat and back sections, with its large colour choices and offering comfort softness and breathability made for a perfect combination. Finally the “table top”, with some rounded shapes had to be weather and scratch resistant as well as comfortable when used as a seat: oiled teak and Corian met this criteria.

The jurors pointed out in their trend report that the garden has won in significance within the home environment. How does this affect design in this area?
Thomas Sauvage: The outdoor furniture market is moving ever closer to being an integral part of the home. The pace in design trends and creativity in all market segments means a closer relationship with all markets – an ideal situation for designers!

How do you approach a new design project, and what is it that inspires you?
Thomas Sauvage: It can vary a lot but most of the design projects that I work on are carried out together with a client thus can be considered as a team’s work: I like it this way when the client is open minded or has a vision. Being almost exclusively a furniture designer makes me curious about many fields of creativity but architecture is undoubtedly one that can tease my inspiration.

How would you describe your design style? Are there role models in design that have influenced you?
Thomas Sauvage: I would not describe me as a “fashion designer”: what drives me is the will to design products that I will still like after many years (whether they have been successful or not!) which brings me to search for a subtle balance somewhere between innovation and elegance…