Marc Newson

Background

Marc Andrew Newson was born in Sydney, Australia, on 20 October 1963. He studied jewellery design and sculpture at the Sydney College of the Arts, and in 1986, with a grant from the Australian Crafts Council, staged his first exhibition at the Roslyn Oxley9 gallery, showing the LC1 chaise. He then moved to Tokyo, working mostly with Idée, before setting up a studio in Paris in 1991 and moving to London in 1997, where he founded Marc Newson Ltd with Benjamin de Haan.

Signature Style

Newson's work is characterized by smooth geometric lines, organic shapes, an absence of sharp edges and the use of transparency and translucency. He has said a curve drawn freehand on paper can be known immediately to be right in a way a computer-drawn one cannot. Cappellini describes him as one of the most influential designers of his generation, working across manufacturing, technology, transportation, fashion and luxury goods.

Notable Works

• Lockheed Lounge (1988-90)
• Embryo Chair (1988, created in Tokyo), and the Felt Chair, Orgone Lounge and Wooden Chair in the Cappellini catalogue
• Qantas Skybed seating and lounges
• Ford 021C concept car (1999)
• Newson Aluminium Chair (2018) and Newson Task Chair (2022) for Knoll

Legacy

Newson was appointed CBE in 2012 for services to design and was named one of Time's 100 most influential people in 2005. The Lockheed Lounge holds the auction record for a work by a living designer. He served as Apple's senior vice president of design from 2014 and joined LoveFrom in 2019, and is the only industrial designer represented by the Gagosian gallery.