Bespoke Design Studio: The Brittish are coming... Meet Tom Dixon

Tom Dixon is a British designer specialising mainly in furniture, but also designs lighting, accessories and interiors. He was born in Sfax, Tunisia and moved to the United Kingdom at the age of four. Without formal training, he began designing furniture in his early 20s, after being injured in a motorcycle accident. It was when he was repairing his motorcycle, that he used his welding skills and created a variety of objects including the S-Bend chair. The S-bend chair was discovered later by Italian furniture maker Cappellini, which has been manufactured by Capellini since 1992 together with his Kitchen Chair, the Bird chaise longue, and the Bird 2 chair.

Since then, he has produced many products including the: "Eco Ware" (2003) tableware made from biodegradable bamboo fiber. Among his most notable creations are the Mirrorball light (2005) and the Wingback Chair. He is also known for giving away hundreds of lights to the British public from Trafalgar Square in 2007. Items of his work form part of the collections of the Boston Museum of Fine Art, the Design Museum in London, the Centre Pompidou in Paris, the Moma in New York, the Tokyo Museum of Modern Art, the Victoria & Albert Museum and the Vitra Museum, Basle, Switzerland.

Tom is also the Creative Director to the Tom Dixon and Artek furniture design company and the interior design company Design Research Studio, all part of Design Research Ltd. Established in 2002, Tom Dixon design and manufacturing company of lighting and furniture. With a commitment to innovation and a mission to revive the British furniture industry, the brand is inspired by the nation’s unique heritage. Tom Dixon launches new collections annually with products sold across 52 countries.

He engages in many design-focused speaking events and charity events around the globe and has taught at the Royal College of Art, Kingston Polytechnic and Plymouth University. He was appointed head of design for Habitat in 1998, he reissued objects by such designers as Verner Panton, Ettore Sottsass and Robin Day and commissioned new designs by Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec, Ineke Hans and Marc Newson.

At this year’s ICFF, the British designer Tom Dixon will present his new INDUSTRY line, as well as the first in a series of limited-edition, self-published books to be updated and re-released every few months. Dixon will also host the Flash Factory, a hands-on booth where his $175, digitally-manufactured Etch lamp will be made on the spot. Conceived for the ICFF and last month’s Milan Furniture Fair, Etch demonstrates Dixon’s hopes for the design industry of the future, wherein individual designers will control the entire design process, from concept to consumption, offering mass customization to consumers.