“He was a natural,” says director Jonas Lindstroem of Scottish designer Cathal McAteer, the star of the second installment of his cinematic miniseries, The Lost, The Determined, The Dreamer.  The founder of functional, detail-driven British label Folk is heavily influenced by Eames, Oscar Niemeyer and Le Corbusier, and is currently working on a ceramics range with Ralph Lauren and Nicole Farhi collaborator Jo Davda. “I spent a long time in the shower; in the end, it flooded the downstairs of the hotel,” he remembers of the shoot. “Cathal has never done any acting before, but was incredible in front of the camera,” says the Berlin-based filmmaker. “I felt he had a calm but attentive way of being, and he produced something that felt very determined and enigmatic.” Below, the designer lets us in on his creative philosophy.

I go to odd places for inspiration. I used to go to Sofia in Bulgaria, where you’d find beautiful Soviet-era objects and buildings to photograph. It’s not always the most glamorous places that inspire me.

My girlfriend would tell you that I collect anything to do with wood. My current obsession are these old, thick oak poles stored in a big room, which I’m still waiting to use.

I would quite like to go to one of those wonderful places in Italy where you can rent a room in a warehouse and discover collections of old things. I’ve heard of designers who do that: they’ll camp out for a week in special archive places.

My spirit animal would be the snow leopard—only because my daughter has a snow leopard onesie. 

Part Three, The Dreamer, with Thomas Shickle premieres next Tuesday, January 28.