Marc Newson dishes on 40 years of jet packs, space Nikes, and why even timeless designs die

No doubt, a retrospective makes you introspective, and Marc Newson is in a career-analyzing mood when we meet for lunch at the Mandarin Oriental hotel during Milan Design Week. Between plates of spring rolls sits the industrial designer’s latest project: not a luxurious watch or boat, not a $3.7 million chair made from the riveted aluminum of an airplane nor a sex toy made from silicone and molded as an abstract breast.  It’s a true, blue tome of a book: Marc Newson. Works 84-24...