Alain Elkann Interviews

PATTI SMITH – WORKER. Patti Smith was born in Chicago in 1946. In the 1970s the American poet, songwriter, singer, and visual artist blazed a trail for punk rock artists, especially women. Patti Smith earned herself such titles as "godmother of punk" and "punk's poet laureate" with her androgynous appearance, intense live performances, and penchant for writing lyrics that often blend poetry with subversive themes, She retreated from public view in the 1980s but made a successful return to performing in the 1990s. Following her comeback, she has published several acclaimed memoirs about her life and career as one of rock's most avant-garde artists.

"I don't want to be rich and famous. I want to be great."

"I'm for children. That is my number one concern."

"Have I earned all this adulation?"

https://www.alainelkanninterviews.com/patti-smith

PIONEER OF VIDEO ART AND CULTURE. Marco Brambilla is a leading figure in contemporary video art, internationally recognised for his pioneering use of digital imaging technologies and immersive moving image installations. The Italian-born Canadian artist and film director is best known for work that re-contextualizes archival imagery into visually elaborate, often satirical spectacles that explore the excesses of contemporary culture. His work has been exhibited at major global institutions.

"In the 1980s Francis Coppola famously said that at some point he would be able to dictate his films and out will come Lawrence of Arabia."

"I thought it was appropriate to imagine a world which is not chronological, not geographic, but could only exist in the mind of a machine."

"If you make things that can be broadcast, that can be projected, that can be re-performed, people are very well versed, and there's a thirst for this right now."

https://www.alainelkanninterviews.com/marco-brambilla/

AN INDEFINABLE PERSONALITY. Patrick Kinmonth is an Anglo-Irish opera director and designer, film maker, writer, painter, interior designer, art editor, creative director and exhibition curator. He is widely known for his many stage, costume, interior and architectural designs and recognised internationally for the breadth and depth of his creative interests. His many collaborations have yielded landmark opera, ballet and dance productions, books and exhibitions. Kinmonth's earlier role as arts editor at British Vogue included creative direction for fashion and portraiture shoots. He is perhaps "one of the most indefinable personalities of contemporary art".

"Something happened that was like a key turning in a lock, where I realised, 'yes! this particular story, for whatever reason, I can make really exciting in the theatre', and it proved to be the case."

"David Hockney draws a line which travels and which is not always anatomically accurate, but which traces precisely the feeling of David as he drew the person."

"You have to decide in your life what brings joy."

https://www.alainelkanninterviews.com/patrick-kinmonth-2

AN ODE TO CRAFTSMANSHIP AND AUTHENTICITY. Gabriella Cortese made her mark on the fashion universe when she founded Antik Batik in 1992. The Antik Batik fashion house stands out for its collections of chic, bohemian clothing and accessories that emphasise craftsmanship and artistic techniques. It was the alluring scent of adventure that set Gabriella Cortese on her travels and inspired her to create Antik Batik, thus it reflects its designer's ever-renewed desire to explore the world with boldness and curiosity, and to share her discoveries. Fiercely committed to freedom and open-mindedness, Gabriella has built her Antik Batik brand – which has now gone global – as a true ode to craftsmanship and authenticity.

"Antik Batik has always had a soul"

"Every time that I feel through my intuition, I do the right things, and when I go far from my intuition things go wrong."

"I need a lot of nature to calm down"

https://www.alainelkanninterviews.com/gabriella-cortese/

ACTIVELY AGING. Erri De Luca was born in Naples in 1950. A widely celebrated Italian novelist, essayist, poet, and translator, he has been hailed as "the writer of the decade" by Italian critics and his work has been translated into over thirty languages. He has written around 80 books – some say 100 – and is also a translator of important works. He has studied ancient Hebrew, Swahili, Russian and Yiddish, and has translated several books from the Old Testament, such as Ecclesiastes, Exodus and the Book of Jonah. He has also appeared in films and documentaries, including L'età sperimentale (2024), which Feltrinelli subsequently published as a book. It has also recently been published by Gallimard in Paris, where Erri is known for having won several major literary prizes.

"I don't believe I'll live for long, but my aim is to live the present day as intensely as possible."

"I don't consider writing a job. For me, it has always been that saved time, and today it is a happy part of my day, but it is a small, happy part of my day."

"We are in this uncertain time, where there is vagueness and resentment, and in this time I am quite out of the ordinary, out of place, because right now I feel more compassion, more feelings of brotherhood than feelings of hostility."

https://www.alainelkanninterviews.com/erri-de-luca/

CHINA FIRST. Dr. Yu Jie is Senior Research Fellow for China, Chatham House. She focuses on the interplay between China's domestic political economy and foreign policy and is a seasoned commentator in major international media outlets, including BBC News, the Financial Times and Foreign Policy. She regularly briefs senior policymakers from G20 governments and leading intergovernmental organisations. In July 2025, Project Syndicate recognised her as 'one of the most notable female voices' in global affairs.

"It is very much a self-centred way of looking at the world and its position in the rest of the world."

"Both China and Russia would prefer a world led by multipolar order"

"Chinese young people no longer consider the West is the absolute one and only destination they want to go to."

https://www.alainelkanninterviews.com/yu-jie-2/

SEAMLESSLY BLENDING ART DECO AND CONTEMPORARY DESIGN. Benoist F. Drut is managing partner of Maison Gerard, a leading source for French Art Deco furniture, lighting and objects, and — more recently — postwar and contemporary design. Founded in 1974 by Gerardus Widdershoven, Maison Gerard maintains two premises on East 10th Street in Manhattan and is an elegant presence at both The Winter Show and at Salon Art + Design.

"I always have my eyes open. I have to stay curious, aware, and inquisitive, that's my job."

"Being based in New York, your main competitors are in London and Paris, but we sell everywhere. Shipping is not difficult these days."

"I am known to spend more time with people that may not be able to afford some of our goods but are passionate about our material than with people who have the means!"

https://www.alainelkanninterviews.com/benoist-drut/

A CREATIVE ENTREPRENEUR. Marcantonio Brandolini d'Adda, born in 1991, is a Venetian entrepreneur and artist with diverse creative pursuits. The family business, Laguna~B, specialises in contemporary Murano glassware, and from this base Brandolini d'Adda is now expanding his activities into a universe of complementary ventures, including a design studio, a restaurant, and a magazine called EVERYTHING that serves as a communication platform for the various projects of his group of companies.

"EVERYTHING reflects the creative and cultural environment where it was born."

"EVERYTHING is a collaborative endeavour: even though I've initiated it."

"I'm an artist, and the relationship between artist and entrepreneur is always complicated."

https://www.alainelkanninterviews.com/marcantonio-brandolini

CHOSEN TO SAVE SUN BEARS. Dr. Wong Siew Te is a Malaysian wildlife biologist, wildlife conservationist, tropical forest ecologist and nature lover. He studied veterinary science in Taiwan and later wildlife biology at the University of Montana where he began his focus on the rare and little-known Malayan sun bear, the endangered smallest species of bear in the world. In 2008 Wong founded the Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre (BSBCC) in Sabah, Malaysia, and he still runs it today. A CNN Hero, Wong received the President's Award from the International Association for Bear Research and Management.

"The bears are very shy animals. They all know that humans are the most dangerous animal that has ever been created on planet Earth"

"The orangutan receives a lot of conservation attention, but not the sun bear. That's why the idea of setting up the sun bear centre first came about."

"I think I was the chosen one to help and to save sun bears. My professor chose me to study wild sun bears, and I accepted. Everything happens for a reason."

https://www.alainelkanninterviews.com/wong-siew-te

MILANESE MASTER OF CONTEMPORARY DESIGN. Piero Lissoni is a multi-award-winning-architect, designer and art director. One of the masters of contemporary design, he has an almost forty-year history in the development of projects the world over in the fields of architecture, landscape, interior, product and graphic design. He is art director for Alpi, Boffi, Living Divani, Lualdi, Porro and Sanlorenzo as well as being the founder and director of the interdisciplinary studio Lissoni & Partners.

"When you're born in Milano and grow up in the polytechnic of Milano it becomes quite natural to control 360 degrees of everything."

"I think it was a disease, and I became an architect."

"We need to live in our own times, even if sometimes they are imperfect."

https://www.alainelkanninterviews.com/piero-lissoni/