Jaime Hayon – Spanish Furniture Designer

A fast rising star on the contemporary design scene, Jaime Hayon was born in Madrid in 1974. His training began in his birth city and

Paris studying industrial design. Echoing the influence of his teenage years with his immersion in skateboard culture and graffiti art, his artwork incorporates the best of both of these worlds. Starting in his position as a designer with Fabrica which is located in Italy and run by Benetton; he was quickly given the responsibility of being in charge of the design department. Working under the tutelage of Oliviero Toscani, he gained experience working on a wide variety of projects involving restaurant, retail and exhibition layouts as well as graphics to material design.

His work with BD on the Mail Me project provided him the confidence to go out on his own. Returning to his native country, Spain, he moved to Barcelona to initially design personal art projects; ceramics, designer toys and furniture and then to include interior design projects.

His exhibition, Mediterranean Digital Baroque in London was followed by ‘Mon Cirque’ which travelled through Frankfurt, Barcelona, Paris and Kuala Lumpur. The collection of bathroom fixtures designed for ArtQuitect drew international attention. He designed the Showtime collection for BD (Bernhardt Design) in textiles and modern furniture. The Lounger is an elegant and comfortable chair designed to satisfy both classic and contemporary tastes. He also works with several companies such as Swarovsky designing lighting fixtures, Moooi designing contemporary furniture, Camper, Bisazza, Metalarte and Lladró as a creative consultant. A more recent collection is the ‘Recontres’ collection for Baccarat of vases and lamps reinterpreted with portions of fine crystal replaced with ceramic and plastic elements.

Like so many modern designers before him, he stretches the boundaries of materials within the context of modern contemporary design marrying form and function in creative and innovative ways. Expressed in industrial design, he has been commissioned to design the interiors of hotels, restaurant and retail such as Camper footwear stores. Designing with an adventurous and bold spirit, his more recent installation of the Mediterranean Digital Baroque in Miami, showcased wonderfully imaginative “plants” in pots displaying the Art Deco tropical colors unique to the city of Miami.

With studios in Barcelona, Spain and Treviso, Italy, he currently resides in London. Despite his young age, he has already received numerous design awards and has been featured in most of the better known design publications. Invited as the guest of honor at Belgium’s Interieur Biennial in 2008, he is the youngest person to have ever received this honor.