High Life

HIGH LIFE #11 Aug 2017 19 “I’m just a young, upcoming designer” While some may find it unnerving to attempt things they’ve never tried, Dixon says it allows him to look at things with a childlike innocence. “I like as many new challenges as possible – the more you do stuff, the more you realize that you’ve got to ignore the fear,” he explains. “Maybe I get addicted to that fear. Sometimes I don’t knowwhat I’m supposed to do … orwhat I wanted to be – just as I became a furniture designer.” After Italian furniture design companyCappellini visited his studio, some 20 trial and error attempts followed before Dixon’s inspirational Pylon Chair went into production. But not all his experiments make it that far. “A lot of the things I’ve made are quite dangerous – they literallybreakandinjurepeople,”Dixonoffers.Therewerealsosome great ideas that couldn’t be produced because theywere either “too specific tomypersonal taste ... or abad idea in the first place.” Although things have changed drastically since then, Dixon continues to be driven by the same interests and departure points – “whether it’s fascination, materials or manufacturing techniques ... they’re all about expressiveness, interests and how to put things together.” There haven’t been many specifically British styles in interior design since theArts andCrafts Movement in the 1870s