Vogue: When you look at the other things you’ve designed, they’ve become ubiquitous. But Ferrari’s exclusive. Could this type of design be democratized? Do you see it influencing the rest of the car industry, like Apple? Or do you approach designing for exclusivity differently?
Jony: My attitude has changed over the years. Where before, if we were working on something like the phone or the watch and it was copied, I had perhaps a slightly juvenile response, that it felt like theft. I think now, as we’re getting older, when you’re working on something, you’re aware that it will have an influence way beyond the specific product you’re working on. We feel sure that there are principles and themes and things we’ve discovered that I actually hope will have an impact beyond this car.
Marc: [Ferrari is] a great place to start, right? We’re starting at the top of the pyramid. I’ve done a lot of work with the so-called luxury sector. It’s controversial in many ways, but one thing I can say is that it’s always the best place to start working: with people who execute ideas correctly.
Flavio: The process at Ferrari I think is very different from other brands. There is a kind of teamwork across all departments. Other brands normally do so-called clinic tests to understand if the design of a new car is well-received by a certain group of potential clients. We never do that. We believe that we, as a team, are able to understand what a new product should be, based on objectives like performance. Every time, we have to [outdo] previous performance and surprise our clients. It’s a kind of symbiosis that we have internally that helps all of us to define the characteristics of a new product. And basically, we invest in it, and we believe that it will be successful.
Jony: What focus groups generally do is they make sure you don’t offend anyone. They never inspire. It’s our job as designers to try to figure out the future. It’s not fair to ask a consumer, ‘what is it that you want?’
Flavio: We try to avoid any homogenization. Every product must be different and must anticipate certain trends. As Ferrari, we have to be ahead compared to the others.
Marc: So that’s why Ferrari will do this, and everyone else will do extrapolations of this.
Jony: I think it’s nice to point out — and remember — that it’s an uncomfortable place to be. To be courageous, and you’re vulnerable. I think of John [Elkann, chair and CEO of Exor, the holding company that owns a stake in Ferrari] and Benedetto. It’s so easily overlooked, the courage, the support that they’ve had on this project and our direction, that conviction and resolve to make this happen is really important.
Marc: And I think it extends to the fact that we’ve asked people like you who don’t come from the traditional automotive industry. That is also, I think, a sort of expression of doing things in a slightly different way, that’s more adventurous. It’s another way for us to understand what we’re doing — a slightly bigger picture, a bigger snapshot, one that involves a larger cultural context.
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