Tom Dixon: Eclectic
Initially, Tom Dixon never wanted to become a designer. His dream was to be a musician, but an accident put an end those prospects. Not ready to give up on his musical ambition, he worked as a nightclub promoter and warehouse party organiser. And when his bike broke down somewhere in 1983, he learned how to weld which led him to welding objects and furniture as a hobby. Those creations ended up in his nightclub where it got approval from its public, and he even ended up selling a piece to Janet Jackson.
In the beginning he worked without sketches, just with a mental picture. And he never got any formal designer education. (He had started a foundation course at the Chelsea School of Art in 1979, but he dropped out after only six months.) He always considered it an advantage not to have studied design as it allowed him to experiment with no constraints and make his own mistakes.
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| S-chair |
His first big break came when his work was noticed by Giulio Cappellini, founder of the Italian brand Cappellini. In 1989, the brand started manufacturing his S-chair made from recycled rubber. It is now part of the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern art in New York. Of the S-chair project Dixon said: ‘It provided a step out of the self-production ghetto’
In 1994, Dixon co-founded the company Eurolounge to produce plastic products. The company’s first project, The Jack Light, a lamp made from pigmented polyethylene, brought Dixon international fame. For the designer it also proved to be a convincing attempt at mass-production.
In 1998 he joined Habitat as Head of Design in the UK and in 2001 he became Habitat’s Creative Director. He ended up working at Habitat for a decade. Of his decision to join he said: ‘Habitat was a conscious decision to get a proper grounding in the business. By that time I had gotten involved in design, craft, factory management, design consultancy, marketing, sales and retail all with no training or funding. Frankly it was unsustainable, and it was time to grow up.’
In 2004, Dixon partnered with the Swedish investment company Proventus. The partnership operates under the name Design research, which is the umbrella for the Finnish Artek and Dixon's studio in London, including a design consultancy and the Tom Dixon line.
Since 2004, Dixon has been the Creative Director at Artek, which has been one of Proventus’ investments since 1992. The Finnish design company was founded by the visionary modern architect Alvar Aalto in 1935 and Proventus became involved when a representative of Aalto's heritors contacted them and asked to help save Artek and its cultural heritage. In bringing together Artek, with its remarkable history as a flagship for modernism, and Tom Dixon, Proventus is trying both to build a new furniture and interiors business, and at the same time to create a new kind of design partnership to help manufacturers, retailers and investors manage change.
The interior design arm of the Design Research Group was launched in 2007 and has already worked on many high profile projects. If you are in London, you should go admire the interior design of the Royal Academy of Arts Restaurant, Circus in London’s West End and Inn the Park in St. James Park, and of course Dock Kitchen!
Links to:Tom Dixon, Proventus Capital Partners, Royal Academy of Arts Restaurant, Inn the Park, Circus London
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