On the international scene, designers have taken new paths mixing tradition and the contemporary. They have given new life to ancient skills such as lacquer and ceramic, combining them with new technologies and more recent materials such as carbon fibre. New creative centres renewing aesthetics and the use of everyday objects have been created. Often engaged with the problems of society and the environment, these designers bring an innovative view to the very essence of their profession, audaciously questioning the designer’s place in a global, over industrialized world. This unique reflection, sometimes drawing from slow or low design philosophies, reveals the wealth and eclecticism of design that comes from the history of objects, objects made by craftsmen and the decorative arts.