( Leeds, United Kingdom 丨 1942 - )

George J. Sowden is a designer and product developer.

Sowden studied Architecture at Gloucestershire College of Art in the 1960s. He moved to Milano in 1970 where he started working with Ettore Sottsass and Olivetti. In 1981, he was one of the co-founders of the Memphis Group. In the same year he founded his design studio through which he developed his activity as a consultant for industrial design, while continuing to develop his research work. In 1990 his experimentation and research are objects of the exhibition “George J. Sowden Designing 1970–1990” organized by the Musée des Arts décoratifs et du Design in Bordeaux.

Sowden’s interest in working with craftsmen and small companies, as well as in the practice of design and decoration, began in the 1970s and continues to this day.