David Mellor (1930-2009), Royal Designer for Industry, was one of the best-known designers in the UK. He was unusual in combining the activities of designer, manufacturer and retailer. His great professional expertise was in metalwork, working over a broad spectrum and designing products on both a large and a small scale. His designs ranged from street lighting and the UK national traffic signal system to one-off pieces of handmade silver and the modern stainless steel cutlery he manufactured in his own purpose-built factory. He trained in silversmithing at the Royal College of Art in London, winning a scholarship for further study at the British Academy in Rome.

Magis was established in 1976 in the north east of Italy, one of Europe's most dynamic industrial areas. Its success is based on the desire to provide a broad swathe of users with access to high functional and technological quality products for the home, developed in partnership with major international designers, with a vision of the resulting products that is ethical and poetic as well as aesthetic. 

Magis products are dedicated to their international public and are all 100% “Made in Italy”: a guarantee of high quality, in line with the firm's tradition, which has developed from its craftsmanship and cultural roots, through the evolving styles and industrial growth of the eighties and nineties, and continues to comprise one of the company's greatest and most valuable assets.