TOM DIXON

Tom Dixon dropped out of Chelsea School of Art to play bass in the band “Funkapolitan” before teaching himself to weld – initially only in order to repair his motorbike – then to produce furniture. Dixon was acclaimed in the 1980s as “the talented untrained designer with a line in welded salvage furniture”. He designed the iconic “S” chair for Italian furniture maker Cappellini, but “Jack”, the polypropylene “sitting, stacking, lighting thing” that made him a household name, was designed for his own company, Eurolounge. In 1998 he was appointed Head of Design at Habitat, where he later served as Creative Director until 2008.

Since setting up his design brand in 2002, Dixon’s work has won fans and commissions around the world. Tom Dixon designs, including Mirror Ball, Copper Shade, Wingback chair and Beat light, are sold in sixty-five countries. Committed to reviving the British furniture industry, Tom Dixon produces “extraordinary objects for everyday use”.

Dixon says: “I want to design more things that I have never tried before: buildings and motorcycles; books and gardens; foods and discotheques; water purification systems. . . . I have always been interested in the interface between industrial technologies and handwork.