Can you tell us about your working space, and some of your favourite attributes here?

Ohhhh, don’t ask me about my studio, I am completely mad in love with it! It is an old industrial building, hidden in the back of a Parisian yard. It is made of poor material and a bit destroyed, but full of stories and very charming. It is very practical for us to not be inside walls that are too clean, because we can do prototypes, we can work, we can mould, carve, sand down or paint without any fear for our environment. The building has already been through much worse. The wooden floor has been repaired here and there with nailed-in metal patches and we liked it so much that we continued to do the repairs in this way.

Does Tsé & Tsé have a studio practice ethos, something you aspire to when working as a team, or in collaboration with craftsmen?

For the past 30 years, I have built my company in a very autarky way; Catherine (my partner) and I wanted to paint our environment in the colour we liked. So, we designed every object we used. (We also made our clothes, but we never wanted to join the fashion world, because they are wolves). Our moto is we cannot know what other people like, we can only be totally sincere and do what we dream of. And then, maybe, other people will like it also. Perhaps, our sincerity is the secret to Tsé & Tsé's success. We often joke that designers or architects should always use what they design!

Can you tell us about how you like to enjoy the local offerings in Paris?

We love Paris because it is home and we feel good here. Because the population is relatively mixed, compared to other cities. Because between the museums, the walks, the markets, the cafes and the cinemas, there are many beautiful things to see, to hear, to taste. We have been in the east of Paris since our studies, our design school was located not very far from where we are. It was traditionally the district of furniture makers, as in our building, and we continue the tradition.

But the real reason for our attachment to this corner of Paris is the proximity to Place d'Aligre where almost every morning there is an unpacking of bric-a-brac where we like to rummage. This comes after meeting at the counter of our favourite cafe and an outside mixed foods market where many nationalities coexist and where we do all of our shopping.