MILAN — Legendary designer Jean-Charles de Castelbajac is staging a home run in more ways than one.

Since starting Ko & Co with his mother in 1968, he’s dressed everyone from Farrah Fawcett to Pope John Paul II. He cofounded Iceberg in the ‘70s and has worked with artists like Andy Warhol, Keith Haring, Robert Mapplethorpe and Cindy Sherman, cementing his place as a luminary in the worlds of art, fashion and design.

In Milan, at a dinner attended by the design industry’s most powerful names, de Castelbajac stressed that his striking language of color and forms is just as potent in the home sphere as it is in fashion. After injecting a color burst of energy into Pierre Frey’s furniture debut at Milan Design Week here, the designer is now pursuing an ambitious lineup of new home collaborations. Among them, furniture Hall Haus, a design-forward studio of young designers, and projects set to debut at Maison & Objet in September: a second furniture collection with historic French textile firm Pierre Frey, new outdoor designs for Fermob and tableware with Gien Earthenware.

In an interview with WWD, de Castelbajac shared how his primary hues, angels and uplifting motifs transcend creative fields — from furniture to street art. The cultural figure also revealed plans for a December retrospective of his career spanning five decades at the Les Abattoirs museum in Toulouse.

WWD: You’ve worked across different realms of design. What at this phase of your career is inspiring you to amp up your involvement in the home sphere?

Jean-Charles de Castelbajac: I have never seen any limits between home and fashion — they have always been linked. My first success in the United States was the creation of the blanket coat. The blanket, traditionally a home furnishing item, served as the foundation for something wearable. I designed the blanket coat as part of my own collection, and it became an emblematic piece throughout the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. It was a metaphor, transforming something associated with domesticity into an elegant garment for women.

WWD: You’ve actually worked in the home sphere since the ‘80s. In 1990, you created the Jean-Charles sofa for Ligne Roset and were perhaps one of the early pioneers of upcycling having created multicolored Rubik’s Cube cushions made from basketball canvas. What excites you about adorning the home today?

J.-C.D.C.: I have always viewed the home as more than just a functional space — it’s an installation, a scenography. That’s why I am dedicated to building scenographies composed of various elements that elevate the concept of living spaces. Some of the pieces I created in the 1980s reflect this philosophy. My designs are timeless and continue to transcend trends and eras.

WWD: You’ve mentioned your dislike for temporality in design — can you elaborate?

J.-C.D.C.: Good design transcends time. For example, my camouflage-covered chair, inspired by 18th-century design, created in the 1980s, still feels relevant today. The key is blending influences from history with contemporary elements to create something uniquely your own universe. I believe timelessness is at the heart of all my work.

WWD: Are you more focused on home design or fashion at this point in your career?

J.-C.D.C.: My projects are interconnected. For example, I’m working on a fashion collaboration with Palace Skateboards that incorporates a collage aesthetic rooted in my designs. At the same time, I’m deeply invested in home design projects, particularly post-COVID-19 pandemic, as people reconnect with creating homes filled with color, positivity and individuality. I find the home to be an increasingly profound expression of personality.

WWD: You’re known for your use of primary colors. How did that begin?

J.-C.D.C.: I started working with primary colors in the 1980s, specifically in 1981 with color-blocked projects that hijacked cartoon aesthetics. For example, my collaboration with Snoopy spans 42 years. Primary colors bring joy and energy to my work — they are the cement connecting all my projects. This philosophy extends to my art direction for the reopening of the Notre Dame de Paris and my creations for World Youth Day with the Pope [John Paul II].

WWD: You’ve mentioned the retrospective of your career in Toulouse. What can we expect?

J.-C.D.C.: It opens in December at Les Abattoirs, a major contemporary art museum. It features 300 pieces spanning 50 years of my work — from jumpsuits designed for Farrah Fawcett in the 1970s to experimental creations that remain relevant today.…It’s really funny when I look to my archive and some museums have historical pieces like at the Met, you know, or the V&A Museum. It’s all still totally contemporary. It has no age. The exhibition will travel globally, and I hope to bring it to Los Angeles, New York City and Vienna. It’s not just a retrospective…it’s a showcase of the timelessness and evolution of my designs.

WWD: What are some upcoming design projects set for release this year?

J.-C.D.C.: My new collection with Pierre Frey, called “The Color of Our Dreams” consists of 20 pieces including cushions, carpets, blankets, wallpapers and materials. I’m also collaborating with Fermob [an extension of his first collaboration with Fermob was in 2009] on outdoor metal furniture and developing new lines with Gien Earthenware for china and home accessories. Additionally, I have an upcoming collaboration inspired by Matisse, called “Free Jazz,” which debuts at Paris’ Drawing Lab in June and an amazing King Snoopy sculpture with Leblon Delienne. I also have another collaboration with Les Emaux de Longwy, a historic French ceramics house, famous for its colorful cloisonné enamel pieces blending tradition and contemporary design. My collaboration with Les Emaux de Longwy is planned for release in July 2025.

WWD: What does Color of Our Dreams stand for?

J.-C.D.C.: It’s about the playfulness in the world of design, you know. I think we need to inject some freshness and some kind of poetry and a little something to bring back childhood memories. And also, I am convinced that the Salone del Mobile.Milano has opened the door to another step of history of design. From the radical design of the ‘60s and ‘70s, we are going toward a more epic time like telling stories. I am happy I can contribute to bringing that feeling to the world because it has always been my purpose.

WWD: How do you balance your roles as an artist, designer, and innovator?

J.-C.D.C.: Creativity is my life. I’m always drawing, painting or envisioning new ideas. Whether working on street art — like my chalk angels — or collaborations with young designers like Hall Haus, I remain immersed in the dialogue between generations. For me, art and design are universal languages that transcend boundaries, bringing people together and inspiring hope.

WWD: I read that you lived in Morocco as a little boy. What do you remember about that?

J.-C.D.C.: In my childhood memories…my father was a textile engineer and he was working there. And I stayed there for six years. And white is really the color that is engraved in my memory about Morocco. And I always use this white with the primary colors. White like plaster, white like the cloud, white like the chalk I use to draw angels on the walls in the street. And I really love it.

WWD: Since COVID-19, colors have been muted in the home to create a sense of zen.…What do you think about that?

J.-C.D.C.: Color is back, really. And also this very interesting movement to understand that creating is a social investment. Creating…to be an artist today, they have a responsibility to create, to bring people together, to share values with people and to give some hope. It’s very important.

WWD: Are you still doing street art?

J.-C.D.C.: Oh, I do that all the time, really. I started in very early ‘90s following the advice of Keith Haring and I just use chalk, and I mainly design angels. I mainly design angels because they are relevant in every religion and they are always like kind of empathic figure.

WWD: What disillusioned you about fashion?

J.-C.D.C.: I stopped [working with Benetton] two years ago. And I said to Benetton marketing people, the time of the 5Ps is gone: produce, pricing, positioning, publicity and the public…that was the philosophy of the ‘80s. Today we are living the age of the five Es: emotion, experience, ecology, e-commerce and entertainment. I’m driven by the desire to emerge people into my vision…to take them away, to make them live an experience so they can see it in my art. So they feel my art.

WWD: Do you miss fashion?

J.-C.D.C.: I can say yes, I sincerely miss it. I have always considered fashion the best universal language. It even has the ability to bring people back to museums. Fashion has this unique capacity to democratize art, and that’s so important today, especially as art becomes a kind of social cement — a vital glue in this dystopian world we’re living in.

For me, I have always loved fashion because it’s like an invitation to install a vision, to create something greater than just clothing. It’s about shaping a larger cultural narrative and I would be very happy to be involved again.