Dixon, Tom

Born in Tunisia, Tom Dixon moved to England in 1963. Educated in London he dropped out of Chelsea School of Art to play bass in the band Funkapolitan before teaching himself welding. Tom rose to prominence in the mid 1980’s as “the talented untrained designer with a line in welded salvage furniture”. By the end of the 80’s, he was designing chairs for brands like Cappellini; by the mid-nineties, he had created his own company, ‘Eurolounge’, to make and sell his work. His earlier pieces are now collectables and have changed hands at auction houses around the globe. Tom Dixon was appointed head of design by Habitat in 1998 and later became Creative Director until his departure in 2008. Established in 2002 by Tom Dixon and David Begg, Tom Dixon is also a design and manufacturing company of lighting and furniture. In 2004, Proventus – a Swedish investment company, teamed up with Tom Dixon and David Begg to establish Design Research Ltd, a design and product development holding company. It includes Tom Dixon, Design Research Ltd and Artek, the Finnish modernist furniture company established by Alvar Aalto in 1935. Tom’s earlier works have been acquired by world famous museums across the globe from the Victoria & Albert Museum through to Museums in New York, Boston, Paris & Tokyo. Tom was awarded the Order of the British Empire in 2001 and the most recent accolade included Tom winning Designer of the Year 2008 from Architektur and Wohnen Magazine. Some of his most famous products include the S chair, Birdlounger and the Pylon chair.