Karim Rashid

You know that sexy Garbo wastebasket by Umbra? Karim Rashid. Issey Miyake’s distinctive scent bottles? Rashid. Nambe’s sleek, polished-alloy “kissing” salt and pepper shakes that just happen to be in the collections at the Museum of Modern Art in both New York and San Francisco? Yep, they’re by Rashid, too.

The curvy contemporary style Mr. Rashid calls “sensual minimalism” has brought him awards like Industrial Design Excellence Awards, the Brooklyn Museum of Art Designer of the Year for 1998, the Design Effectiveness Award, and the ID Magazine Annual Review Design Distinction.

Among his other clients are Idee, Issey Miayke, Pure Design, Estee Lauder, Tommy Hilfiger and Sony.

He is presently a full-time Associate Professor in Industrial Design at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia and has also taught at Pratt Institute and the Ontario College of Art.

Mr. Rashid has been a juror for several international competitions and a contributing writer for design periodicals.