Gwenael Nicolas is an interiors and product designer, born in France in 1988. He studied a Bachelor of Arts degree in interior design at École Superieure d’Art Graphique, Paris, before completing his Master of Arts degree in Industrial Design at London’s Royal College of Art in 1991. Nicolas' brother was a movie producer who worked for director, George Lucas. After viewing a Star Wars movie together, Nicolas realized he wanted to be involved in design. He travelled to Japan in the 1990s to work freelance, going on to establish CURIOSITY INC. with producer Reiko Miyamoto in 1998.  

He has led all main projects of Curiosity. Selected as 50 most influential French in the world in 2015 vanity fair, BOF (business of fashion) 500 since 2014. Today, he is the President, Creative Director and Founder  of Curiosity, which has been running for over 20 years. The multidisciplinary studio has built sensual, curvilinear interiors as seen in Louis Vuitton and Fendi stores and collaborated with household brands like Nintendo and Uniqlo.

His projects are known as minimal, airy spaces with a particular focus on light and movement. Nicolas is the mastermind behind megastores and boutiques, full of his signature geometric lines. His first ever fashion collaboration was with the Japanese designer Issey Miyake, for whom he has designed stores and perfume bottles.

“Women’s fashion is important for its complexity and organic nature, always stimulating. They’re crossing each other all the time so that’s interesting,” he once said.

His work has earned him multiple accolades. In 2007, he was twice honoured by the Japanese Society of Commercial Space Designers and thrice honoured by the Display Design Awards in 2005 and 2006. In 2009, he was awarded the Ku/Kan prize, Japan’s most prestigious prize for interior design.