The international design community is under shock for the unexpected loss of James Irvine, at the age of 54.

Born in London, the british designer studied design at Kingston Polytechnic in London before completing his master's degree at the Royal College of Art. From 1984 to 1992 he was design consultant for Olivetti design Studio, under the direction of Michele de Lucchi and Ettore Sottsass.
In 1988 he returned to Milan after a year at the Toshiba Design Centre in Tokyo, and in the italian city founded his own studio.First clients were Cappellini and SCP. In 2004 he was guest of honour at the Interieur Biennale in Kortrijk, and was rewarded as Royal Designer for industry by the Royal Society of Arts in London.
Clients of his studio named design brands like Artemide, Foscarini, art publisher Phaidon and camera-maker Canon, while in 2000 he designed a fleet of Mercedes-Benz buses for the German city of Hannover.
Recently he was working as the creative director of bent wood furniture company Thonet and as design consultant to Japanese brand Muji.

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James Irvine