Vincent Grégoire / “top trend-tracker”
Published on 24 June 2020
In 2020, the year that marks the trade fair’s 25th birthday, he is the brains behind the (Re)Generation theme focusing on millennials’ aspirations. International business intelligence and design consultancy NellyRodi along with Vincent Grégoire have been lifting the veil on societal shifts for a good many years. We slipped into the office of this voracious traveller with an insatiably inquisitive mind.
Portrait :
"I prefer shots that are taken on-the-fly, when I’m totally unaware, surreptitiously, without me posing. A back can actually speak volumes and tell us an awful lot. When I work, I love spreading all my treasures, bits and bobs, research and finds out all over the floor before sharing them with my team to get a really good overview of what I’ve got. Once I’ve done that, anything’s possible."
Futile object
“Assembling schemes, disassembling schemes, reassembling schemes, expressing ideas by combining colours and materials, emotions and intuitions, and if they’re constantly changing, so much the better. I love improvising and seizing the moment. It’s a stimulating and invigorating exercise in style.”
Useful object
“They’re totally ridiculous and wholly improbable. Superfluous yet thoroughly necessary. My little menagerie does me so much good, not only by making me smile but by reassuring me, offering me comfort, as I know they’re always there and I’m grateful for their “kitschiness”. Good taste or bad taste, who cares?! They have taste, and that’s all that matters!”
Good luck charm
“They never leave my side. They’re part of every big decision, every big occasion and every niggling doubt, my little stones. I got them from a mystic store in the SoHo neighbourhood of New York back in the ‘80s. It really bothers me that I never completed the collection. They talk to me and I talk to them. My team really rib me for it, but I don’t care.”
Souvenir
“My island! Holidays, where work’s a distant memory, the hippy bohemian vibe, living lots of lives all at once, the scent of rosemary, the nostalgia of after-hours at Space, the shock of the summer of love, flaós and angel’s hair jam, recharging my batteries, the sun, pink flamingos that are actually grey, that telluric “thing” with its waves, energy and vibes...”
Current crush
“Korea! I first discovered the country and its culture thirty years ago. To be honest, I often yearn for Korea. It’s an amazing hunting ground and every trend-tracker’s dream. I need my regular dose of it for a million different reasons. I love its gastronomy more than ever when it tingles and burns. I particularly love tteokbokki: big sensations guaranteed, to be enjoyed from holes-in-the-wall, greasy-spoons and above all, standing in the street. Palli palli!”