British designer Matthew Hilton was born in Hastings in 1957. He graduated with a degree in Furniture Design from Kingston Polytechnic in 1979.
From 1980 to 1984 Matthew worked as an industrial designer for the product design company Capa, London.
Setting up the Matthew Hilton Design Studio in 1985, he started working for British retailer and manufacturer SCP. While there he designed a number of classics such as the Balzac chair, the Flipper and Antelope table.
In 2000 Matthew was appointed Head of Furniture Design at Habitat and today he continues to work as a consultant for the company.
In September 2007 Matthew launched Matthew Hilton Ltd at 100% Design, Earls Court, London and very soon after it made its first license agreement for manufacturing and distribution of the products with design company De La Espada.
Throughout his career Matthew has received numerous awards and recognition for his work and contribution to design. A project to produce an alternative to the traditional plastic garden chair for German plastics company Authentics won the Design Plus Frankfurt award and was nominated for a Compasso d'Oro in 2003. In 2005 he was appointed a Royal Designer for Industry, by The Royal Society of Arts, UK and most recently he was awarded designer of the year at the 2008 British Design Awards.