head

Michael Young

Birthdate
1966
Nationality
British
Occupation
Designer

Michael Young has been amongst the most successful and influential designers of his generation from the onset of his career.

In 1992, his early woven-steel works were immediately acquired by public institutions such as the Centre Pompidou and the Louvre Museum. His Mid Nineties collection of furnishings for E&Y Tokyo was purchased by the Die Neue Sammlung Museum in Germany and the Design Museum in London. The collection was said to have created a new formal language in design. Max Borka director of the Kortrijk Design Biennale was quoted as saying, “It is almost now impossible to pinpoint his dramatic influence so copied was his work of this period."

In 1994, he received a Crafts Council grant and commenced on a series of one-man shows in Paris, Germany, Tokyo and Kyoto with prestigious galleries such as Gallery Mougin and Neotu. He started selling at a series of auctions for Phillips in New York and his works made their way into many an artist's collection, notably Mariko Mori.

In 1995, he created MY-022 Ltd design office in London where he focused on a series of projects for Cappellini, Sawaya & Moroni and Magis and was given his own monthly page in the Japanese publication Casa Brutus. His clients have since included Gallery Kreo, Danese, Artemide, Rosenthal and Swedese and Astro Bar, a nightclub designed in Iceland. These works embodied classic items such as Eurolounge Sticklight and the Magis Dog House. Terence Conran selected Young in 1997 as his most inspirational British designer, recorded by David Bailey for the Sunday Times Magazine.

In 2002, he became a coveted Guest of Honour at the Kortrijk Design Biennale, following in the footsteps of Philip Starck, Gio Ponti and Vener Panton, where he created a 2,000²meter installation.

During the past years, he has produced projects including the interior design for cosmetic surgery in Taipei, an MP3 player for Kuro Music, a bicycle for Giant and new concepts for Kymco Scooters. More recently Michael has become a creative consultant for Radio Shack and is presently based in Hong Kong.

mini-2 mini-1
Amongst the most successful and influential designers of his generation