Michael Anastassiades

His career in lighting started with a dilemma. He had just moved into his first home in London, but he couldn’t find the light he wanted. So, he decided to design lamps for his home. His collaboration with Flos began in 2011 when the managing director at the time, Piero Gandini, was on a trip to New York. He suddenly spotted an exciting object—a lamp that didn’t look like your usual lamp. He got the contact details for the designer who turned out to be Michael Anastassiades. Their first meeting was a 20-minute taxi ride, but that was all it took for them to embark on a partnership.

Despite an early wish to be “a creative”, his parents had other plans for his education. He was to do a degree that would guarantee a job in finance or marketing. His parents felt that degrees in creative and artistic subjects always led to failed careers, never to success. Michael had to study something practical so that he would always have something to fall back on, so he decided to study civil engineering.

While studying civil engineering at the College of Science Technology & Medicine in London, he noticed the nearby Royal College of Art. Once he finished his degree, he immediately applied for a masters in industrial design at the Royal College of Art, and that’s how he got into design. He established his studio in London in 1994, and he’s been designing technically advanced yet incredibly beautiful products ever since.

These days, his designs are part of permanent exhibitions around the world. His works are represented at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, Art Institute of Chicago, Victoria & Albert Museum in London, and MAK in Vienna.