Tom Dixon is no stranger to the furniture world. Today, the multihyphenate — sculptor, entrepreneur, musician — wields his infectious spirit among design aficionados, who lap it up.

Who would believe that the self-taught welder and former bass guitarist toured with The Clash, Simple Minds and Ziggy Marley in the early 1980s? From salvaged motor parts to lightweight aluminium pieces and even striking luminaires, Dixon’s 40-year career shows how to turn a hobby into a thriving business and rock it.

Options sat down with the British designer during his recent visit to Singapore, where he unveiled his shop-in-shop at XTRA and celebrated his brand’s 15th year of collaboration with the Singapore distributorship. Read on to find out what he had to say about his career, losing (and rediscovering) awards, and sustainability in design.

What inspired you to become a designer?

I’ve never thought of myself particularly as a designer; I didn’t dream of becoming one ... It was a kind of evolution because it took me a long while to realise what design was, even though I was designing products. I was more interested in the process of making something. I love the constraint of having functionality. The excuse to make a lamp or a chair gave me a box to put my sculptural ideas to work, and allowed me to create shapes and play with materials.

Who are some of your most admired designers?

I was very fortunate when I worked on a project for Habitat. My first idea was to get hold of the oldest designers I could find. I called this project “Living Legends” and had to act fast.

When I started, I told myself it was better to use some existing designs. I went to research the designs of Castiglioni, Sottsass and Verner Panton. I got designs out of them, and I learned a lot from them, especially their attitudes, which were revolutionary in their day. I even met Charlotte Perriand, but unfortunately, as soon as I turned up to visit them, they died.

It was like the curse of Tom Dixon, and I had to change the project from “Living Legends” to “20th Century Legends” because half of them had died by the time I managed to launch the project. I met Pierre Paulin and Robin Day, maybe 12 to 15 of the most fabulous designers, and learned so much from their works.

You were appointed an OBE for services to British design in 2001 and received a CBE in King Charles II’s 2025 New Year Honours list. What do these awards mean to you?

It’s funny, you know — I had lost my OBE award. I wasn’t looking for it, but it turned up in the Christmas decorations box; the cleaner had put it in there. It’s very nice to have this medal. It hasn’t been beneficial for anything, nor is it the motivation for what I do. However, it’s genuinely lovely for my work to be recognised.

What is your brand’s philosophy?

Italian and French brands are more philosophical than British ones. As a brand, we’re more practical in attitude. I set up this business with my manufacturer working alongside me. I wanted to create my “own world”, a universe around my ideas, rather than to be controlled or commissioned by a brand. An example is how Herman Miller, Muuto, Magis and B&B Italia have many designers commissioned to work on pieces; these designers also work for competitors. 

Therefore, my setup is [similar to] how the fashion industry works: You create your universe with a singular idea, and you do your communication. This flexibility allows me to control my distribution, product development, and even the materiality of products. 

Do you have a favourite product from your brand?

I’m not a person of favourites in general, and I’m only interested in what I’m doing next rather than what I’ve done before. However, things like the S-chair (1980) have followed me throughout my career, which I’m fond of because it has been produced in many different versions. It was a product I made myself at the beginning of my career. The chair became part of the Cappellini selection and is now part of the Museum of Modern Art. 

That being said, from an aesthetic perspective, I’d probably prefer the Pylon chair (1992), and I’m keen on my Groove (2024) furniture collection, both of which belong to my brand. 

I conceived the latter design 10 years ago … I explored galvanised veneers, but they were too complex and quite heavy. I moved on to aluminium and the idea of the grooves to stiffen the metal, pushing it to extremes to get this kind of half-tube design, making it structurally strong.

However, the chair was uncomfortable and expensive, and it ended up being GBP2,000 [$3,453] at retail. Long story short, I knew it was impossible to sell an uncomfortable outdoor chair. We went back to the drawing board to study the corrugation and undulation patterns, softening the shape and exploring the size of the metal tubes. 

Finally, we got a lightweight chair made of aluminium with a decorative but rigid structure. So, the Groove furniture collection is inspired by my past endeavours. I had to go through many different versions before I got to one that I could sell reasonably. Good ideas and very photogenic chairs are nice, but they must be comfortable and sold at the right price. 

We all know that navigating a brand in today’s climate comes with forces we can’t control. What’s the biggest challenge to counteract? 

The biggest challenge, or the challenge for us in general, is the complexity of doing many different product categories. It’s just like how fashion is more complex regarding the speed at which you need to change. We constantly must evolve or change. 

From a manufacturing perspective, you must look at the packaging, because different products require different boxes of different sizes. We also have logistics, which can be a challenge, plus certification, because when you export to different countries, each country has a different tariff and safety issues for different products. In California, when you sell a sofa, there’s an absolute minimum of some chemicals, and some countries need proof that your material comes with fire safety properties. 

Right now, we are spending a lot of time determining the tariffs, import restrictions, and certifications. In the lighting area, there are also different plug heads to note. It’s an exhausting amount of knowledge to navigate in the modern world. 

Do you have any pet peeves?

My brand is owned by private equity, so we constantly need to grow and deliver more profits. It’s bizarre that I’ve done it to myself; that is, put my name as the brand. 

Also, I think it is tiring to be in the company of 100 people telling me what Tom Dixon should be. Every creative will tell you that they want to move on to the next thing, or think about the next “creative phase”, like how artists are continuously evolving, [such as with] Picasso’s Blue and Cubism periods. 

However, you also don’t want things to change too fast in the home. Even David Bowie changed his artistic persona every two years; he shed his skin and became a new artist. But sometimes, when you have your label and have built a kind of aesthetic that people recognise you for, it’s much harder to change.

What are your thoughts about sustainability in the furniture industry? 

In this field, I believe in slow consumption. I’ve got this writing desk, which belongs to my great-grandmother; she bought it as an antique for herself, and it was probably a Louis XVI or something, so it’s beautifully decorative. It’s very admirable that this piece of furniture lasts hundreds of years. It’s all about a product’s longevity and trying to build things that are as strong and permanent as possible.

It’s partly due to materials that give a product its build quality and robustness.  We all know you can’t change the battery on an iPhone by yourself; you must chuck it away. Therefore, we allow you to change the battery pack for our Tom Dixon portable lamps so you can still keep the lamp and use it longer. 

Should brands educate their customers about sustainability?

This duty is essential in every brand. All our customers need to be conscious of where products are made and how much they impact the planet. Creating lasting products is a lot more honest than talking about recyclability. You shouldn’t be making things that get recycled; you should make things that last a long time. 

We’ve experimented with many materials which, in principle, are more sustainable. However, we discovered that most people don’t recycle, or they find it more expensive to recycle than buy a new one. 

So when it comes to sustainable materials, which is your favourite to work with? 

Well, we have worked with a lot of materials. Our Cork series of products was interesting. We launched it, but Covid put us in disaster mode. Everybody loves the material because it’s hard-wearing and lightweight. People love to caress the material because it also smells good. However, some people think cork is a throw-away material, so there’s no association with any preciousness. People love its spongy feel, but don’t associate it with quality. 

I believe cork as a material has some fantastic attributes, so I’m still pushing a bit at the cork agenda, but I haven’t managed to make a product that people believe or understand. 

What advice would you give young designers today? 

One of the traits admired in the design field is the ability to be innovative. The landscape for design is fascinating, especially with artificial intelligence. It’s crucial to be mindful of the tools at your disposal and adopt an attitude towards a rapidly developing digital world. 

Today’s young designers have a fantastic landscape, which is quite hard to navigate but makes it much simpler to put out products and take control of their destiny.

When I started my business, the only way to become well-known was really to work with one of the big companies. Today, it’s a lot easier to design something and work alone to produce your products.

There are many avenues for designers to discover and experiment with different materials and manufacturing processes.  It’s unbelievable how you can have direct access to all these possibilities, which never existed before. There are also so many tools at your disposal to become a designer.  

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