One of the most influential names in contemporary British design, Tom Dixon, is coming to Zagreb Design Week. On Friday, 18 September, he will give a talk at the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb about his work and a career spanning more than four decades. Later that evening, he will also return to his musical roots with a live concert.

Before becoming a designer, Dixon was a professional musician. In the early 1980s, he played bass in the London funk band Funkapolitan, performing on the British music scene and supporting bands including The Clash and Simple Minds. The music, club culture and DIY attitude of that period would later have a strong influence on the way he approached design. Dixon’s design career also began outside the conventional academic route. A self-taught designer, he first attracted attention in the mid-1980s with furniture made by welding found and discarded metal. His collaboration with Italian design company Cappellini brought international recognition and resulted in the now iconic S-Chair, while in the late 1990s he became Creative Director of Habitat.

In 2002, he founded Tom Dixon, the eponymous British design brand now internationally recognised for furniture, lighting and accessories, and for its pioneering use of materials, technologies and manufacturing processes. His best-known designs include Beat, Melt, S-Chair and Fat, while his work is held in the collections of institutions including the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, MoMA in New York and the Centre Pompidou in Paris. From bass player in a London funk band and self-taught welder to one of Britain’s most recognisable designers, Dixon’s career has connected music, materials, manufacturing and design for more than four decades. In 2024, he was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for services to design.

On 18 September, Zagreb Design Week audiences will have a rare opportunity to experience both sides of his practice – through a talk and a live concert.