Frédéric Sofia was born in Lyon, France in 1967. In 1988 he graduated in mechanical engineering at the University of technology. Following he studied marketing and management, graduating in 1991.
He is a self-taught designer fascinated by and passionnately interested in creation.
It was in 1992, in the course of a one-year trip to Australia, that he found his vocation as an industrial designer.
In 1995, Frédéric Sofia founded "Wombat", a small company specialising in the self-production of lighting and objects. He received numerous awards for his lamps "Bozo", "Nestor" and "Elvis" which were selected by Philippe Starck for the International Design Year Book 96.
In 1998, Sofia joined the global design agency Cent Degrés as project manager and head of development. For two years, he collaborated on projects from fields as diverse as cosmetics, medical equipment, sport and leisure as well as entertainment electronics.
In 2000 Frédéric Sofia went into business for himself in the sectors industrial and environmental design. The following year, he designed a collection of lighting and decorative objects in earthenware for Base.D, all of which with inventive and poetic twists on their normal use: "Body Double" vase, "Freelight" night light.
In 2002 and 2003, he reinvented the relax chair for Variation. Fermob charged him with reinterpreting the mythical Sénat du jardin du Luxembourg armchair in the form of a range of aluminium furniture of the same name. His "Aware lamp" with touch sensor was recognised with an "appel permanent du VIA" in 2004 (produced by Ligne Roset, France in 2005).
In 2004, he further developed his activities by founding the company 923A, specialising in industrial and environmental design.
Principal projects currently include a range of integral furniture for flat screen TV's for the French manufacturer Erard, projects for Ligne Roset and Fermob, and the "35H" relaxation armchair, designed for the "appel spécifique VIA 2005" and produced by Ligne Roset.
Germany
