Anyone who appreciates an amazing colour, material & finish (CMF) scheme should hear the views of Alexandra 'Sandy' McGill, lead designer at BMW Designworks. She joined the studio straight after graduating at UCLA and hasn’t looked back since, creating exciting and creative schemes and concepts for sectors including automotive and aviation.

Sandy discusses everything from the studio’s 50th anniversary, to the trials of bespoke colour schemes, her time with big names like Chris Bangle and Marek Reichman, wellness and sustainability in CMF, and why beige is back. But will our host Matt Nicholls get his dream pink and gold interior scheme?

John Walton is an award-winning English aviation journalist. Growing up across three continents John claims - only half-joking - to have been raised by cabin crew. As a writer he specialises in cabin interiors, seating, connectivity and premium class service. 

Interview conducted by Matthew Nicholls, vice president of marketing at Perrone.

In this wide-ranging chat with Peter Tennent, CCO and director of Factorydesign, he discusses everything from his days at Central St Martin’s, to industry trends, seat design, and airline requirements. He also shares some stories from notable design projects including Etihad, Concorde and… Gordon Ramsay’s undercarriage.

Interview conducted by Matthew Nicholls, vice president of marketing at Perrone.

Blake Emery shares his unique pax ex insights and discusses how to trigger a sense of the magic of flying. 

Blake is well-known from his role as director of differentiation strategy at Boeing, where he applied deep research, as well as behavioural, organisational and consumer psychology, to drive stakeholders to prefer Boeing aircraft. He was a key member of the development programme for the Boeing 787 Dreamliner (including giving the aircraft a name as well as a number), and is named on several patents for its exterior and interior designs. 

Blake is now president of Emery & Associates, where he helps clients choose and execute research, leading to deep customer insights.

Paul Wylde has enjoyed a wide-ranging and influential design career, developing brand, product and service innovations for big names such as Hawaiian Airlines, Air Canada, British Airways, jetBlue, Imagination, Teague, Interbrand, Frogdesign, Hilton Worldwide, JSX and BMW Group.

Now enjoying his role as head of the paulwylde studio in California, Paul shares some key moments and influences over the years such as those BA tailfin designs, the magic of Concorde, Bauhaus design, ‘painting music’, Club World, and how an article in Aircraft Interiors International magazine changed his life.

He also discusses contemporary issues such as cabin class ‘dis-positioning’, the importance of creating a strong brand identity, and a few entertaining tales from the world of design consultancy.

Chris Dela Rosa, cabin product director at Alaska Airlines, discusses everything from advances in seat comfort to universal design language, to the challenges of fleet retrofits, galley gates, his fondness for David Neeleman – and what the industry is not talking about but should be.

Chris is a born and bred New Yorker who was previously an aircraft interiors specialist at JetBlue and now resides in the Pacific Northwest. A true cabin innovator, his self-declared mission is to bring the Alaska Airlines experience to life “one aircraft at a time”.

Chris Wood has devoted his life to advocating to make airline use more accessible, and is one-third of Air4all, a consortium delivering an aircraft seat that promises to provide a seamless, comfortable journey to users of power wheelchairs. His two children, both now adults, are full-time wheelchair users, and Chris' extensive lobbying has helped created more solutions for accessible travel, for which he was awarded an MBE for services to aviation. 

Cristian Sutter is a well-known figure in the cabin interiors sector, having worked on major projects such as Singapore Airlines’ A380 first class, VIP and VVIP interiors, and British Airways’ long-haul interiors. He shares some key moments in the cabin and aviation sectors, and discusses topics including friendly (ish) rivalry between British Airways and Virgin Atlantic, and anticipating trends during a cabin programme.

Interview conducted by Matthew Nicholls, vice president of marketing at Perrone.

Visit the Aircraft Interiors International website. 

Daniel Clucas, formerly of Acumen, is an experienced aircraft interiors designer. He recently founded his own studio, Studio ID, an aircraft interiors design studio with sustainability at the heart of everything they do. 

Interview conducted by Matthew Nicholls, vice president of marketing at Perrone.

Visit the Aircraft Interiors International website. 

In this far-reaching and in-depth discussion, Anthony Harcup, founder and CEO of DeepBlue Studios, talks about opportunities to innovate in the aircraft cabin.

Known for his work with Acumen, Teague, and countless airlines and suppliers, Harcup shares his views on seating design – including bespoke premium seating, untapped opportunities in premium economy, and how to improve comfort in economy – as well as what the future holds for the industry, advanced digital design tools, and how Lego influenced his life.

Interview conducted by Matthew Nicholls, vice president of marketing at Perrone.

Visit the Aircraft Interiors International website.