James Irvine was born in London in 1958. Graduated in 1984 at the Royal College of Art, London. The same year he moved to Milan Italy.

In 1987, for a cultural exchange organised by Olivetti, he worked for one year at the Toshiba Design Centre in Tokyo making design research for industrial products. He returned to Milan in 1988 and opened his private design studio. Clients included Cappellini, CBI, BRF and SCP. From 1993 to 1999 in parallel to his private studio he was a partner of Sottsass Associati Milan and was responsible for the industrial design group. In 2000 he completed the design of the new city bus for the Hanover transport system Üstra. 131 buses have been built by Mercedes Benz.

In 2004 he was guest of honour at the fair Interieur in Kortrijkand was also elected RDI (Royal Designer for Industry) by the Royal Society of Arts in London. From 2005 to 2007 he was professor for industrial design at the Hochschule für Gestaltung Karlsruhe. In 2007 he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Design from Kingston University.

His design studio in Milan has worked and is working with various internationally renowned companies including Alfi, Amorim, Alias, Artemide, B&B Italia, Canon, Foscarini, LG, Magis, Marsotto edizioni, MDF Italia, Muji, Olivari, Olivetti, Thonet, Whirlpool, and Zumtobel.

After James’ sudden death in 2013, the thirty-year history of his office evolved into a new phase, in which the three key words are precision, irony and generosity. Precision in design, irony in communication, generosity in art directorships.

AVENUE ROAD carries a curated assortment of James Irvine pieces.

Visit James Irvine