Mickey Mouse by Marcel Wanders and French studio Leblon Delienne

Mickey Mouse by Marcel Wanders and French studio Leblon Delienne – 2018 Mickey Mouse will be 90 years old and the Walt Disney Company has a series of official celebrations planned for the year and even launched a Mickey-themed fashion collection created by the hip New York brand Opening Ceremony this spring. The design world decided to celebrate it in the highest way! High-end French sculpture studio Leblon Delienne pays homage in its own way: by inviting internationally renowned Dutch designer Marcel Wanders to embellish an oversized Mickey Mouse with his signature “One Minute Delft Blue” style.

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Handcrafted in the studio’s Normandy atelier, One Minute Mickey is an abstract, stylized take on the 20th century’s favorite animated good guy. Made of resin, the piece stands nearly 55 inches tall and is limited to only eight editions. In collaborating with Wanders, Leblon Delienne continued their spunky tradition of mining the pop culture landscape and elevating figures like Superman, Alice in Wonderland, and The Smurfs with crisp, artistic renditions.

Wanders is well-known for his exuberant, gestured take on everything from furniture to interiors. The founder of influential design studio Moooi, Wanders has been the go-to creative when companies want a lively take on furniture (Christofle), hotels (the Mondrian South Beach) or tabletop (Alessi).

With exaggerated forms and rippling, nature-inspired details, Wanders has an almost supernatural ability to give a room an upper. Behind the work, there is a deeper reflecting process, and with Mickey, we see his confident refresh of traditional delftware—the glazed blue earthenware that sprung from Delft, Holland in the 17th century.

Handpainted by Marcel Wanders, the designer dresses the iconic figure in a spontaneous, one-shot-only creative rush that manages to sidestep any cries of graffiti or defacement in favor of a cool new take on the instantly recognizable silhouette. The addition of a chrome gold finished nose is the proverbial wink-wink moment on each piece (which fetches 25,000 Euro). Maybe it suggests that after nine decades, Mickey deserves some luxury.