He designed his first piece of furniture at age 18 and completed his degree in architecture at the Polytechnic University of Milan in 1975. While studying, he opened his own design

His father was a wholesale trader and his mother a bank teller who painted in her spare time. At first, Arne hoped to become a painter but his father dissuaded him to choose somethi

Mogensen started as a cabinetmaker in 1934 but soon after in 1936 started studying furniture design. After his studies in furniture design Mogensen studied architecture until 1942.

Charles Eames and Ray Kaiser met each other through their work at the Cranbrook Academy…

Close friends and contemporaries at Cranbrook Academy who defined mid-century modern

Eero Aarnio was born in Helsinki in 1932. He went to study at the Institute of Industrial Arts in Helsinki and graduated in 1957. He opened his own design office in 1962, Helsinki,

In 1947 his family emigrated to the United States. In 1949, he moved to Los Angeles and held a variety of jobs while going to college. He changed his surname.

He graduated from Yale with a degree in architecture in 1928. He did not set out to become an architect though, but one day, during a rainstorm, he ducked into the Yale School of Ar

Wegner started as a child apprentice in cabinet making and soon found his affinity for working with wood. After he finished his apprenticeship aged 17, he remained at the workshop

At the age of 15, Harry had the choice to move to America or remain in drought-ridden Italy. Harry decided to adventure abroad with his father, where they travelled to Canada and

Born in 1967, Henrik Pedersen graduated as a fashion designer in 1990, but today runs a Danish Design Studio in Aarhus, Denmark.He has a keen interest in maths, which allows him to

Ib Kofod-Larsen was born in 1921, Denmark. Like many designers of the time, Kofod-Larsen started as a carpentry apprentice before moving on to study architecture at the Danish Royal

His influences on architecture, interiors, exhibitions, graphics, lighting, artwork, and decoration, have been described as “sensuous modernism; elegant, understated and efficient”. Platner produced a furniture collection that has proved to be a continuing icon of 1960s modernism.

He studied cabinet making and graduated in 1947. He then studied at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen, under the mentorship of Kaare Klint. Other notable alumni in

Studied cabinet making at John Makepeace School and then design at the Royal College of Art in London. Other notable alumni include Thomas Heatherwick…

Together, they created the most iconic pieces of their generation…

Along with Alvar Aalto, Le Corbusier, Walter Gropius and Frank Lloyd Wright, he is regarded as one of the pioneers of modernist architecture.

A protegé of Bauhaus founder Walter Gropius, Breuer is now equally celebrated for his achievements in furniture and architecture. As an architect he designed more than 100 buildings

Nitzan Cohen was born in Israel in 1973. He studied applied art at Avni Art Academy in Tel Aviv and also completed a bachelors degree in industrial design from the Design Academy in Eindhoven in the Netherlands

After graduating from Milan Polytechnic in 1989 she was mentored by some of the masters in Italian industrial design and worked as an assistant lecturer to Achille Castiglioni and

Philippe Starck was born in Paris into a family from Alcase, a coastal region in Eastern France. His father, Andre Starck, was an aeronautics engineer and built airplanes

Poul Kjærholm was born in 1929 in Øster Vrå, Denmark. He finished his apprenticeship as a cabinet maker with Grønbech in 1948 and then went on to study furniture design

Poul Volther was born in Denmark in 1923 and would grow up to embody a generation of architects with solid roots in the very best of craft

His designs tell the story of his early childhood in Zambia, his love for 1950’s furniture and his nostalgia for traditional craftsmanship

After graduating, Yanagi worked for Charlotte Perriand and Le Corbusier. His famous designs include the Butterfly Stool, as well as the torch holder and stadium seats for the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games

Bentzen graduated from The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. He has been the Head of Design at a large multinational furniture company and he occasionally lectures at his Alma Mater

When Oulton left school, he thought he would become a city banker or, in his own words, ‘a playboy’. However, his part-time summer job, helping his father in Halo Antiques, would captivate his heart and ignite a lifelong interest in antiques.  

Panton qualified as an architect in 1951 and worked for Arne Jacobsen in his early career. Known to have an inspirational and colourful personality, Panton embodied the very definition of creative in his work

The son of a cabinet maker, his family fled Germany and emigrated to the United States in 1938. At first interested in painting and sculpture, Kagan later became attracted to architecture and design and would go on to become one of the most influential furniture designers of the 20th centruy