Marc Newson is in a buoyant mood as he talks about his latest luxury project, a Riva speedboat designed in collaboration with Officina Italiana Design, launched in September 2010. Aquariva by Marc Newson will be limited to just 22 units and will be available through the Gagosian Gallery.

‘I was aware of Riva even as a child growing up in Australia – it epitomised the jet-set glamour of the 1960s – the Riviera, Portofino, the Agha Khan and Bardot,’ he says.

The Australian super-designer has had a long association with Gagosian; he was the first designer to exhibit at the Gagosian Gallery in New York in 2007. The speedboat supersedes the 46-year-old designer’s work with aircraft, such as interiors for Qantas’ A380s, and cars, including the Ford 021c concept. The sleek, seamless lines of the 33–foot Aquariva have a retro and futuristic design aesthetic.

‘I wanted the boat to look timeless yet slick, understated and very, very cool,’ says Newson, who decided to use materials uncommon to luxury boats, specifically ones that differ from the traditional shining chrome aesthetic. The boat is constructed from a laminated fabric composed of a phenolic compound that mimics wood.

The material was a precursor of fibreglass and combines a natural appearance and texture similar to that of wood. Instead of using steel, Newson used anodized aluminium, which gives the boat a sleeker appearance and helps it reach a top speed of 41 knots. Newson had to work within set parameters on the project.

‘That’s the way I really like to work,’ he reveals. ‘Because that’s what design is: solving the problems and joining the dots.’ Luxury is being redefined in a new-age austerity but it hasn’t affected Newson.

‘Luxury in an object can be defined as it having a lasting quality rather than it being easily disposable,’ he says. ‘I have always wanted my work to be timeless.’

The early years
Newson, who has lived in London since 1997 and has a studio in Paris, currently serves as adjunct professor of Design at Sydney College of the Arts, where he first studied sculpture and jewellery, and is the creative director for Qantas. His career was launched with the iconic aluminium recliner Lockheed Lounge in 1986, which he literally made with his own hands, and since then he has amassed a vast and eclectic body of work, which includes furniture, household items, watches, shoes and commercial interior design.

Newson is very busy working on projects ranging from interiors for private jets and jewellery for Boucheron to watches for Ikepod and designs for Dom Perignon. A few years ago Lockheed Lounge sold at Sotheby’s for $968,000 – the highest price for a work by a living designer.

After graduation Newson worked for Teruo Kurosaki and design company Idée in Tokyo, which remains his favourite city. After he moved to Paris in 1991 he started to design for Italian furniture manufacturers and created limited-edition aluminium pieces such as the Orgone chair and the Event Horizon table.

Life through a lens Newson has a coolness about him that has helped his poster boy image.

When Lockheed Lounge came out, Newson, youthful and an occasional surfer, was a different type of designer who ushered in a new approach.

But he remains irritated by the rock star designer logo that has been attached to him by the media.

‘I certainly don’t feel like a rock star – nor does my life emulate that of one,’ he says. ‘Design is still a very pragmatic occupation. It’s more like being a carpenter.’ ‘I just do what I do,’ says Newson, a stylist without a creative philosophy.

‘It’s important to be aware of and to have a general appreciation and an understanding of what's going on around us. As a designer, I have a relationship with contemporary culture. If you don’t, then you’re irrelevant