The visceral experience of Milan Design Week is much like stepping into a living theatre of aesthetic possibility — the entire city is engaged in a design-led fever dream where the world’s most forward-thinking designers reimagine the way we live, move, and relate to the world around us, fuelled by an endless supply of Aperol Spritz and delicious apéritivi. Amid the neoclassical grandeur and tightly curated showrooms, Lexus offered something quietly radical: a sanctuary of breath, rhythm, and presence in the form of “Black Butterfly”, its immersive design installation for 2025.
Stepping into the Lexus experience felt like slipping into another dimension — a dark, womb-like chamber that pulsed and breathed in synchrony with one’s heartbeat. It was a moment of deep attunement, echoing the very questions that define Milan Design Week itself: How do we live better? How do we make beauty sustainable? How can we re-enchant our relationship with nature and self?
Lexus, long known for its pursuit of takumi craftsmanship, offered an answer both startlingly futuristic and deeply human. The “Black Butterfly” installation was conceived in collaboration with Tokyo-based creative agency SIX, design studio Studeo, and Lexus’s in-house design team. It drew on the ancient Japanese concept of A-Un no Kokyu — the synchronised breath between two beings — and translated it into a multi-sensory encounter where each visitor’s presence subtly altered the space.
At the heart of the experience was a monumental butterfly-shaped screen, handcrafted over three months using 35km of carbon-neutral bamboo fibre. Engineered to respond to each person’s biometric data, it fluttered and glowed in resonance with your unique rhythm. The result was meditative, embodied, and oddly emotional — a conversation between body, technology, and time.
The installation was a conceptual response to the interior of the Lexus LF-ZC (Lexus Future Zero-emission Catalyst), unveiled at the Japan Mobility Show in 2023 and showcased at the Milan event. The LF-ZC is a sleek, all-electric sedan with a silhouette that evokes both 1970s sportscar sensuality and the streamlined intelligence of sci-fi futurism. Its aerodynamic design targets a drag coefficient of less than 0.2, while its next-gen prismatic battery system promises up to 1 000km on a single charge, nearly double the range of current electric vehicles.
But it’s inside where the car truly sings. The LF-ZC introduces an intelligent cockpit, equipped with yoke-style steering, touch-sensitive controls, and Lexus’s proprietary Arene OS, which learns and adapts to the driver’s preferences over time. It’s this intuitive, personalised relationship — not just between driver and machine, but between human and experience — that Lexus brought to life through the “Black Butterfly” interface.
Koichi Suga, global GM of design at Lexus, explains the brand’s enduring ethos. “Since 1989, we’ve been human-oriented. We don’t think of the car as a machine, but as part of a relationship. In traditional Japanese culture, every experience is honoured — whether eating, walking, or praying. This installation reflects that sensibility.”
More than just a sculpture or tech demo, Black Butterfly felt alive. As each guest entered, the screen attuned to their heartbeat, establishing a delicate feedback loop, a silent conversation that turned each interaction into a one-of-a-kind design event. It’s this idea of responsive, emotionally intelligent technology that Lexus is betting on: a future where your car — like your home, your tools, your environment — is not just functional, but also empathic.
“I watch how the seasons change: spring’s green, autumn’s red. Not just the colours, but the rhythm of time itself: changing, continuous, and returning. That’s what I want to design for. Not trends. Timelessness.”
— Koichi Suga, global GM of design at Lexus
Suga’s own inspiration is nature. “I walk and run every day near my home, by a small mountain,” he says. “I watch how the seasons change: spring’s green, autumn’s red. Not just the colours, but the rhythm of time itself: changing, continuous, and returning. That’s what I want to design for. Not trends. Timelessness.”
In a week saturated with surfaces, statements, and spectacle, Lexus offered a moment of stillness. “Black Butterfly” was not just a highlight of Milan Design Week 2025; it was a vision of the kind of future we might still design: one that listens and connects.
From the July edition of Wanted, 2025
