Karim Rashid

Karim Rashid was born in Cairo, Egypt in 1960. He grew up in England and Canada and completed his industrial design studies in 1982. After his work in the Studio of Rodolfo Bonetto in Milan in 1984, he founded his own studio in Tokyo in 1991, moving with it to New York two years later.

Rashid is considered an exceptionally productive designer who created about 100 products a year in the last decade; products that have been sold millions of times, such as the waste basket Garbo Can (1996) or the Oh Chair (2000) for Umbra. Besides product and furnishing design, Rashid also works as fashion, furniture and light designer, as well as artist.
Karim Rashid became especially famous by his retro furniture, such as the sofa Superblob for Edra or Orgy for Offect, with the look of the sixties.

Well-known companies such as Alessi, Artemide, Cappellini, Danese, Georg Jensen, Tommy Hilfiger, Prada or Magis count to his customers. He already won numerous design awards with his work, such as the Good Design Award (USA), the Good Design Award (Japan), the Red Dot Design Award or the Design Plus Award. His works are furthermore represented in renowned collections of international museums such as the MoMA.

I believe that design products shouldn’t make up traps for our day by day. But they should be taken seriously with delighted smiles. I try to develop products that are relaxing. They should be enjoyable and make our duties easier, while they raise our engagement and aesthetical level at the same time. Our everyday is enriched by the experience of beauty, comfort, luxury, functionality and utility suiting each other seamlessly.

Website by Karim Rashid