Kurt Ritter, Chairman of Rezidor SAS

You will be opening the first Missoni in 2008. Why launch a new brand?

Kurt Ritter - Our new-look Radissons, design hotels for a new generation, are proving very popular. But there is also a demand for top-of-the-range lifestyle hotels, and Hotel Missoni will be responding to this demand.

Who will these customers be?

K. R. - A young clientele looking for a place to live, not a place to sleep. They want a complete experience. They like design, the Mediterranean way of life, fashion and luxury.

Several chains have teamed up with leading fashion designers. What do designers like Nouvel or Starck bring to the table?

K. R. - More and more fashion houses are doing more than just fashion. They are expanding their portfolio to include jewellery, perfume and decorative accessories. It's only a short step from there to the design of multifunctional hotels like ours, where we will be offering products such as "Missoni Cucina", "Missoni bar" and "Missoni spa". Designers such as Jean Nouvel and Philippe Starck come from a different background - architecture and interior design - which is fine, but it's a different approach to ours, less holistic.