Meet the Designers

Achille Castiglioni

February 1918 - December 2002

Beauty and commonsense – it’s not every day the two come together, but Achille Castiglioni’s designs perfectly combine function and form. Known as an ‘industrial’ designer for his use of practical materials like steel and wood, Castiglioni’s products turn so-called mundane objects into divine works of art.

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Arne Jacobsen

11th February 1902 - 24th March 1971

It is very rare that a designer's creations become classics within their own lifetime, but Arne Jacobsen achieved just that. A Danish architect and designer, Jacobsen was examplar of the "Danish Modern" style.

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Bonaldo Furniture

1936 - Present Day

A truly iconic brand, Bonaldo are known as one of the most innovative and modern furniture producers in Italy, despite a history that spans nearly 80 years.The company began with Giovanni Vittorio Bonaldo who, in 1936, started out as an artisan processor of metals used by others within the furniture industry. Around 20 years later, his son Albino joined the trade, creating beds, bedsteads and mattresses by hand.

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Borge Mogensen

1914 - 1972

Few designers combine science and beauty like Borge Mogensen. This supremely intelligent designer investigated the measurements of living spaces, then created furniture and storage systems designed to work perfectly in any home or office.Danish-born Mogensen was one of the key designers to make Danish design famous all over the world. With his love of natural materials, functional shapes and simple finishes, Mogensen’s pieces create a warm, stylish environment with clean lines and great looks.

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Charles and Ray Eames

Charles: 17th June 1907 – 21st August 1978. Ray: 15th December 1912 – 21st August 1988

Charles and Ray Eames are two of the most well-known and highly-respected designers of the twentieth century.They defined the “mid century modern” style of furniture, with their organic, innovative designs, extendeding their considerable influence to architecture, exhibition design, photography, film-making, and manufacturing.

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Charles Rennie Mackintosh

1868 to 1928

Both the European art nouveau movement and the city of Glasgow have much to thank Charles Rennie Mackintosh for. This Scottish architect, designer and water colourist often worked in partnership with his wife Margaret Macdonald.

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Douwe Jacobs and Tom Schouten

They are quite young

Thinking outside the box has never been so curvyWhen design student, Douwe Jacobs, dreamed of creating a folding chair with curved lines, he had no idea such a thing was thought ‘impossible’.So he went right ahead and designed the ‘impossible’ for his 2008 graduation project – a big, bold, curvy chair that could be folded totally flat.

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Eero Aarnio

Born 1932

When is a chair not a chair? When it’s a ball, or a bubble, a tomato or a pony – or any of the fanciful creations of Finnish designer Eero Aarnio.

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Eero Saarinen

20th August 1910 – 1st September 1961

He was born in Finland and has a name that is undisputedly Scandinavian. However, no other designer or architect has been as synonymous with “The American Century” as that of Eero Saarinen.The visionary behind iconic structures like St. Louis’ Gateway Arch, Detroit’s General Motors Technical Centre and John F. Kennedy Airport’s TWA Terminal, Saarinen’s architectural works represent some of the most potent symbols of American identity at the dawn of the atomic age.

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Eileen Gray

9th August 1878 – 31st October 1976

You have to love a designer who bases her best-known piece on a beloved character from the world of advertising. Yet that’s exactly what Eileen Gray did when she designed her voluptuous leather and tubular steel Bibendum Chair, named for the similarly voluptuous and curvaceous Michelin man.

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Finn Juhl

30th January 1912 – 17th May 1989

Born in 1912, Danish interior and industrial designer and architect Finn Juhl is widely regarded as the founder of Danish design. Having originally wanted to become an art historian, he was persuaded by his father to attend the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, School of Architecture instead, where he studied under architect Kay Fisker.

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Florence Knoll

Born May 24th, 1917

A rare genius, Florence Knoll’s holistic approach to design led to creations such as the Florence Knoll Sofa: a triumph of minimalist style and function, and still an iconic style statement for uncluttered living spaces.

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George Nelson

1908 – 1986

The next time you and yours retire to the “family room” to play a game or watch the telly, remember to thank George Nelson. He’s the chap who invented the gathering spot as part of a project titled “Tomorrow’s House” – but that’s hardly his only claim to fame.

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Gerrit Thomas Rietveld

1888 to 1964

Dutch designer and painter Gerrit Thomas Rietveld gained a reputation for creating chairs and other furniture without any reference to proceeding styles or structures, as if he was inventing them for the first time.The craftsman cabinet-maker was also an influential architect, moulding together unique structures within elegant forms. This includes the sculpture pavilion at the Rijksmuseum Kröller-Müller at Otterloo and the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.

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Greta Grossman

21st July 1906 - August 1999

Greta Magnusson-Grossman was an influential furniture designer, interior designer, and architect from Sweden. She was among the few female designers to gain recognition during the architectural boom of mid-20th century Los Angeles. Her early exposure to European Modernism had a profound impact on her later work, which combined European design principles with the laid-back culture and lifestyle of Southern California.

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Hans Wegner

2nd April 1914 - 26th January 2007

With over 500 different chair designs to his name, it is unsurprising that Hans J. Wegner gained a reputation as being the Danish master of chair design. A number of his designs have become classics, with Wegner a true driving force in the "Danish Modern" design movement that turned public perception of furniture on its head during the 1950s and 1960s.

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Harry Bertoia

March 10th 1915 – November 6th 1978

While many of the designers we feature here at Iconic Interiors have a wealth of varied furniture designs to their names, Harry Bertoia - born in Italy in 1915 - is different. His career took a number of different turns from metalwork and jewellery design to sculpture, and as a furniture designer, he has just one collection of five chairs to his name.

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ICF Furniture

1950s - present

Here at Iconic Interiors, we're always on the lookout for great furniture manufacturers to add to our range, increasing our offering to you, the customer. We're now proud to present ICF Furniture: in time, we'll be offering their full range, including the great UNA office chair

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Isamu Noguchi

17th November 1904 – 30th December 1988

Imagine sitting on your own, personal sculpture, or setting your evening cocktail on a genuine piece of 20th century art. For the lucky few who own a piece of furniture designed by Japanese-American designer Isamu Noguchi, what might sound like a once-in-a-lifetime happening is an everyday occurrence. Because this world-renowned fine artist is almost as famous for his beautiful furniture designs.

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Josef Hoffmann

15th December 1870 - 7th May 1956 (Aged 85)

As a young winner of the coveted Rome Prize, Josef Hoffmann was always destined for greatness – and great he became. Hoffmann inspired decades of designers with his trademark geometrical creations, and his clean, functional designs remain as compelling as ever.

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Le Corbusier

6th October 1887 – 27th August 1965

Few designers have been as fêted, derided, and ultimately influential as Le Corbusier. Primarily an architect, Le Corbusier believed that the correct application of modern materials and building methods could deliver better living conditions, and ultimately a better quality of life for the residents of crowded cities.

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Ludwig Mies van der Rohe

27th March 1886 – 17th August 1969

When it comes to the big names of twentieth century design, they don’t come much bigger (or longer) than Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. A pioneering and hugely influential architect, a dedicated and passionate educator, coiner of several catchy aphorisms, and – luckily for us – a dab-hand at designing furniture.

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Macmaster Design

Launched in 2009

Alex MacMaster launched MacMaster in 2009 specialising in contemporary lighting and furniture products.The creative studio is run by award-winning designers, Alex MacMaster and Limahl Asmall who share a passion for exemplary design and an appreciation of the many time-constraints busy clients are burdened with. MacMaster’s exclusively hand-made to order approach offers shorter lead times and a streamlined service from initiation to delivery.

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Marcel Breuer

21st May 1902 – 1st July 1981

Inspired by the strength and elegance of his bicycle handlebars, budding designer Marcel Breuer approached a local bike factory manager with an idea for developing and manufacturing furniture using tubular steel. The factory manager politely dismissed him.His reason? “It has never been done”.

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Mark Holdsworth

Born 1st June 1970

Mark our words, Mark Holdsworth knows about iconic furniture design. As the founder of Iconic Interiors, Holdsworth has spent nearly a decade researching, sourcing and recreating some of the most famous furniture designs in history.His first design – a three-seater corner sofa provisionally titled ‘the Siena’ – offers five-cornered comfort and Iconic’s renowned designer style.The Siena brings contemporary Italian design to the Iconic collection, with a shape that suits 21st century living.

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Poul Kjaerholm

January 8, 1929 – April 18, 1980

With his famous furniture celebrated the world over, Denmark-born designer Poul Kjaerholm’s outstanding creations in wood, tubular metal and leather really bring home the (Danish) bacon. Award-winning Kjaerholm is one of the few designers to have his furniture showcased in museums world-wide, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the V&A Museum in London. His modern, pencil-stroke designs create minimalist, flowing furniture that is both bold and beautiful, and turns any setting into a high-end art gallery.

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Poul Volther

2 January 1923 - 23 January 2001

For Poul M. Volther, furniture design was always grounded in functionalism and top quality craftsmanship. The Danish designer, born in 1923, eschewed the fads and popular trends that his contemporaries were known for - which may explain why it took so long for his name to become synonymous with iconic furniture design.

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Tom Raffield

Born 1983

Owing his inspiration to Exmoor where he grew up Tom has perfected a traditional practice of steam bending - using techniques he has developed himself to allow greater scope in turning his vision into reality.

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Verner Panton

13th February 1926 – 5th September 1998

When you think of the mid-century vision of the utopian future, some iconic images come to mind. Flying cars. Robot housekeepers. And the ultra-modern furniture designs of Verner Panton.Lucky for the design world, Panton and his straight-out-of-“The Jetsons” creations were real.

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Warren Platner

1919 - 2006

Platner is the master of steel and wire furniture, blurring the line between interior and exterior space. Best remembered for the Ford headquarters in New York, his legacy of iconic 1960s furniture is still in production to this day.

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Wewood Project

Born in 2010

I (Mark Holdsworth - director of Iconic Interiors) am delighted to introduce the Wewood Project to our range. Wewood is a platform of partnerships with respected designers, architects and young talents. Their collections are based on high-end production of Portugese joinery, developed by national craftsmen and the most sophisticated technology in wood production.

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Wilhelm Wagenfeld

15 April 1900 - 28 May 1990

Wilhelm Wagenfeld remains one of the most famous designers and architects of the Bauhaus design tradition. His best known design – the Wagenfeld Lamp – encapsulates those traditions so well it is simply referred to as the ‘Bauhaus Lamp’ – an elegantly beautiful mix of industrial minimalism and functionality.

Find out more about Wilhelm Wagenfeld