Karim Rashid
Born in Cairo, Egypt in 1960, Rashid emigrated with his family to Ontario, Canada at the age of five and graduated with Bachelor of Industrial Design from the Carleton University in Ottawa in 1982. He subsequently pursued graduate design studies in Naples, Italy with Ettore Sottsass and then moved to Milan for a year where he worked at the Rodolfo Bonetto Studio.
From 1984, Rashid spent seven years working for KAN Industrial Designers in Canada before opening his own private design studio in New York City in 1993. Since then he has engaged in a range of design projects from the "Garbo" waste can and the "Oh Chair", a concept store for Giorgio Armani, perfum bottles for Kenzo, bobble water bottles, watches and tableware for Alessi, lighting for Artemide and products for Veuve Clicquot. He has also worked with Audi, Samsung, Swarowski and Armani and has designed for Kenzo, Method, Bombay Saphire, Fine Water Japan, Sexy Beast USA, Davidoff, Issey Miyake and Estee Lauder. In 1999, he designed manhole covers for the sewers of New York.
Rashid's contribution to the world of design is attested to by numerous awards, he is a perennial winner of the Red Dot Award, Chicago Athenaeum Good Design award, Pentawards, and IDSA Industrial Design Excellence award.
He has also received honorary doctorates from the OCAD University (2006), Pratt Institute (2004), Corcoran College of Art & Design (2005), Carleton University (2016) and the British Instiute of Interior Design. Rashid is a frequent guest lecturer at conferences, speaking about the importance of design in everyday life.
