George Sowden studied architecture at Gloucester College of Art in Cheltenham, England, during the 1960s. He moved to Milan in 1970 were he became a consultant for Olivetti, the renowned Italian manufacturer of office machines, computers and office furniture. His relationship with Olivetti flourished for 20 years. During the 1970s, Sowden was also working at the heart of the Italian radical design movement which enabled him to become, in 1981, a founder member of Memphis, a group which defined the Post-Modern movement. In the same year, 1981, he founded his studio SowdenDesign; the studio is still active in many different fields of design around the world. From the beginning of 2004 he has worked in China and since 2007 he has been a partner of Industreal, an Italian company dedicated to the promotion of design ideas. He is now working on a range of kitchen and tableware products which will be sold under S O W D E N – an own name brand which was launched at the beginning 2011.