James Irvine (Designer)

James Irvine (* December 1958 in London, † February 18, 2013 in Milan ) was a British designer.

After school, Irvine first attended until 1981, the Kingston Polytechnic Design School and then the Royal College of Art After completing his studies in 1984, he went to Milan to work with Ettore Sottsass in the design department of Olivetti. In 1987 he was a one-year residency in Japan with Toshiba.

After his return Irvine founded his own design studio in Milan and was at the same time from 1993 to 1997 partner of Sottsass Associati. In addition to his own design work Irvine also taught in Karlsruhe, London and Milan.

Irvine designed a wide variety of things from the sofa on lights up to garlic presses or bus shelters. With the design of a Mercedes -Benz Citaro city bus for the Hanover transport companies üstra for Expo 2000, he became well known in 1999 in Germany. His clients have included companies like Thonet, B & B Italia, Foscarini, Zumtobel, WMF, Ikea and Muji.