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Made in ItalyDesigner Karim Rashid stands out in Milan, partly because he is 6 feet 4 and wearing a pale pink suit and pink titanium sunglasses.
But also because he is one of a handful of American based designers who create products for Italian furniture companies to show at the annual International Furniture Fair that ended here last week.
Although he may look out of place in the land of black-clad Prada and Gucci hipsters, Rashid is totally in tune with the scene.
He knows Italy, having studied industrial design with Ettore Sottsass and begun his design career here.
He's been a regular at the fair for years. And he understands that here at the epicenter of cutting-edge design, Italian furniture makers still have a distinctly old-fashioned way of doing business.
"There is this thing about Italian furniture manufacturers," said Rashid as he folded his lanky frame on a leather sofa in the showroom of Natuzzi, Italy's largest furniture manufacturer.
"They are very personal, and there is lots of human contact.
You have to spend a lot of time with them, and if you are not local they can forget about you."
Rashid, 44, who has designed 1,000 products for major players such as Sony, Target and Umbra, is creating a line for Natuzzi, to be introduced next year.
Even as American manufacturers and retailers increasingly turn
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28/4/2005 | Viewed 8,313 time(s)
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