Testimony: Anthony Guerree, freelance designer and art director

Anthony Gueree, a graduate of the Master's in Innovation, Design and Luxury in 2011 (class sponsored by Shiseido), now a freelance designer, gave us an exclusive interview.

What positions have you held since you left and in which companies?

I chose to go into furniture design because I enjoy directly influencing people's everyday actions. Thanks to my 6-month internship at Andrée Putman, I was able to join the eponymous studio as a Project Manager and Designer for 4 years. I then spent 5 years working as a Designer and Furniture Collection Manager at Christophe Delcourt. I worked with a portfolio of clients, mainly decorators, in their furnishing projects.

Last August, I decided to become a freelance Designer and Art Director. For example, I recently created chairs inspired by the characters in Marcel Proust's novel, A la recherche du temps perdu.

What are your various missions? What do you like most about your job?

Since I am now independent, I design collections for furniture brands but I am also developing my own collection.

What I like is that I can develop my projects as I like, which allows me to create great relationships with both manufacturers and customers.

What are your best memories of the Master’s programme?

Eugénie Briot's class on the History of the Luxury sector was very well constructed and I have fond memories of it. As part of the course, we visited the Andrée Putman exhibition in Paris. It was after this visit that I chose to do my internship at the Putman Studio.

Alain Quemin's classes on the sociology of consumption were also very enriching. They gave me a taste for the discipline, which I knew very little about before.

What is your funniest memory of the Master’s programme?

Before the sales internship, we had to come in a suit to see if we had the right dress codes. It was quite comical to see some of my classmates, including myself, with suits that didn’t fit!

Looking back, what did the Master's degree bring to your career, and even in terms of your personal development?

It allowed me to do a 6-month internship, which was not the case in my previous course at Ecole Boulle. I was also able to acquire marketing skills, which help me to communicate with the people I work with on a daily basis. For me, the greatest asset of the Innovation, Design and Luxury Master's degree is that it offers a real professional springboard!

You can find Anthony Gueree's work on his website

Discover other graduates' portraits on the Graduate Network of the UFR of Economic Sciences and Management at Université Gustave Eiffel