Karim Rashid is an Egyptian-born and Canadian-raised industrial designer. His designs include luxury goods, furniture, lighting, surface design, brand identity and packaging. Time magazine has described him as the "most famous industrial designer in all the Americas" and the "Prince of Plastic". He is based in New York City, as well as Belgrade, Miami and Mexico.
Career
Rashid received a Bachelor of Industrial Design in 1982 from Carleton University in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. He pursued graduate design studies in Naples, Italy, with Ettore Sottsass. He then moved to Milan for one year and worked at the Rodolfo Bonetto Studio. Rashid went on to work with KAN Industrial Designers in Canada for 7 years, where he created x-ray equipment. From 1985 until 1991, he co-founded and designed the Babel Fashion Collection and North. In 1993 Rashid opened his own private design studio in New York City. Karim's work is featured in 20 permanent collections. His pieces are exhibited in museums worldwide, including the MoMA, Centre Pompidou, and SFMOMA. Rashid's designs include the Umbra Garbo waste can, the Umbra Oh Chair, a concept store for Giorgio Armani, manhole covers for the sewers of New York, perfume bottles for Kenzo, bobble water bottle, watches and tableware for Alessi, lighting for Artemide and products for Veuve Clicquot. He has also worked with Audi, Samsung, Swarowski and Armani. In addition Rashid has designed for Kenzo, Method, Bombay Saffire, Finé Water Japan, Sexy Beast USA, Davidoff, Issey Miyake, Estee Lauder. In 2008, Rashid teamed up with prizeotel Founder & CEO Marco Nussbaum, to become the exclusive Designer for the Economy-Design Hotelbrand. In 2012, Rashid had a collaboration with artist Terence Koh, for a limited edition of winter coats for the 10th anniversary of the Italian Brand Peuterey. Rashid was selected in 2014 to design several real estate developments in New York City for HAP Investments, a New York City-based International investment group. In 2016, it was announced that Rashid is designing the multimillion-dollar makeover of Temptation Resort and Spa, in Cancun Mexico.
Awards
He holds honorary doctorate degrees from the OCAD University in 2006, Pratt Institute in 2014 and Corcoran College of Art & Design in 2005. And in 2016 an honorary doctorate, Doctor of Laws, or honoris causa, from Carleton University. Karim is a frequent guest lecturer at conferences, speaking about the importance of design in everyday life. In 2012, Danish designer and manufacturer BoConcept collaborated with Rashid to create the Ottawa Collection, which won the Red Dot Design Award. Rashid has won the George Nelson Award in 1999 and the Canadian Designer of the Year award in 2001. In 2010 Rashid won the Pentawards, a worldwide packaging design awards competition. The award was won jointly by Box House and Karim Rashid Studio. He is the very first designer to receive this special Pentaward for his creative excellence in packaging design. In 2017 Rashid was awarded the Lawrence Israel Prize by the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City.
Personal life
Rashid was born in 1960 in Cairo, Egypt to an Egyptian father and English mother. He was born with the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck and had developmental delays and a speech impediment. The family emigrated to Canada where Rashid was raised. Rashid attended high school in Mimico, Toronto, Ontario. Rashid is the brother of famed architect, Hani Rashid, of Asymptote. His sister is a painter and musician, Soraya Rashid. Rashid's first marriage was to digital painter Megan Lang in 1995. The couple later divorced in 2005. He met Lang in 1991 while Rashid was briefly teaching as an assistant professor at Rhode Island School of Design, she was an undergraduate student at the time. In 2008, Rashid married Ivana Purić, a Serbianchemical engineer. He met Ivana Puric at a party in Belgrade in 2006, while working as an ambassador for the second installment of Belgrade Design Week. Together they have one child, Kiva Rashid born in 2013. Rashid is known for wearing white or pink clothing.
