Tom Dixon was born in Tunisia in 1959 and moved to London with his family in 1963. Dixon began studying at Chelsea College of Art in the 1980s, but left his studies early to play bass in a punk band. Instead, he taught himself to weld and began producing furniture from scrap metal.
His breakthrough came in the mid-1980s and he went on to design several iconic pieces of furniture for other brands. Tom Dixon founded his own brand in 2002, designing lamps, furniture and interior accessories with an industrial design language. Metal is a recurring material in Dixon's designs and other metals such as brass and copper are found throughout the range. The brand is becoming known around the world and the combination of genuine craftsmanship and innovative design is characteristic of Tom Dixon.
From scrap furniture to MoMA
Tom Dixon began experimenting with other materials early in his career. His first designer product made of plastic was the stackable Jack lamp, launched in 1994. The lamp became popular and was awarded the Millennium Mark by the British government in 1997. The Jack lamp is now part of the permanent exhibition collections at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. The S Chair is a modern classic designed in 1988 and is part of the permanent collection at MoMA in New York. In 2014, was named Designer of the Year at Maison&Objet in Paris.
Tom Dixon is known for his straight, robust lines and innovative, contemporary design with a focus on function. In 1988 Tom Dixon produced his first lamp, The Spiral Light, which is a copper spiral that makes the light dance on the wall as the lamp moves. The Copper Shade, Mirror Ball and Etch lamps in brass are some of Dixon’s most popular designer lamps. Dixon is interested in creating active light, and uses mirroring effects, shapes, and finely etched patterns to cut through light and create space.
The Tom Dixon brand is now an international brand that can be found worldwide with stores in New York, London and Hong Kong. Design Research Studio is an offshoot of the brand founded in 2004 together with a Swedish investment company. The interior design projects have taken the brand around the world with projects such as the Sea Containers House hotel in New York, a ballroom in Tanzania and Jamie Oliver's Barbecoa restaurant in London. The Design Research Studio gives Tom Dixon an opportunity to create atmospheres, in the same way that music creates a feeling, Dixon wants to create a feeling with his design.
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