Karim Rashid was born in Cairo, Egypt in 1960; Half-English, half Egyptian and raised mostly in Canada. He received a Bachelor of Industrial Design in 1982 from Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada. He pursued graduate design studies in Naples, Italy, with Ettore Sottsass and others, then moved to Milan for one year at the Rodolfo Bonetto Studio. He opened his own practice in New York City in 1993.

Foscarini focuses on developing new products but chooses only to put into production those that express new ideas. While inspiration is always valued, Foscarini’s development phase sometimes takes years of progressive research to analyze materials, shapes, processes and operating modes that sometimes lead to results drastically different from the initial concept.

This is why Foscarini lamps are so innovative yet built to weather the whim of trends and become true classics.