Felicia Ferrone

Felicia Ferrone is an American industrial and furniture designer who lives and works in Chicago, Illinois, United States.

Early life and education

Born in Chicago, Felicia Ferrone graduated with a degree in architecture from Miami University, Ohio, after which she moved to Milan. Ferrone’s expansive reach is informed by her early experience as an architect in Milan, where she was first taught to “blur boundaries.” In a series of positions with some of Italy’s most notable design luminaries, among them Antonio Citterio and Piero Lissoni, she developed her belief that all aspects of design are interdependent, that nothing exists in a vacuum but always in relation to the environment, objects, and systems that surround it.

Career

Ferrone's award winning work is included in the Art Institute of Chicago permanent collection, is a recipient of a GOOD DESIGN Award, and her work is widely exhibited and published internationally. She is a Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago and was an Instructor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago for many years. Producing and distributing her own work under her brand, fferrone, she also does commissioned work for clients, of which Boffi, Volume Gallery, and Covo among others.

The international namesake brand fferrone design, based in Chicago, is known for delivering the unexpected through a seemingly simple gesture. Archetypes are reinvented; typologies are crossed and blended. European influences, minimalist aesthetics, mastery of proportion, and meticulously considered details are the hallmarks of fferrone. Often lighthearted and whimsical, the furniture and objects are timeless. Through close collaborations with master artisans, each piece is handcrafted allowing for innovative use of materials and production techniques, underlying another fundamental attribute to her design philosophy and approach.

Exhibitions

• The Space in Between at Pavilion, Chicago 2015
• Americans in Paris, The Mona Bismarck Centre, Paris 2014
• CHGO DSGN at the Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago 2014
• America Made Me, London Design Week 2012
• The Art Institute of Chicago's Permanent Collection of Architecture and Design
• On Space at Volume Gallery, Chicago 2010

Awards

• Best Furniture Collection awarded by ASID at the International Contemporary Furniture Fair, New York May 2014
• Best Collection at NY NOW Gift Show, New York August 2014
• GOOD DESIGN AWARD for the Revolution Wine and Water, Chicago Athenaeum 2004