Alice Rawsthorn

Alice Rawsthorn is the design critic of the International Herald Tribune, the global edition of the New York Times.

In her weekly Design column, published in the IHT every Monday, Alice explores new directions in every area of design and its impact on our lives. Her column is syndicated to other newspapers and magazines worldwide.

A prominent broadcaster and public speaker, Alice speaks at important international events including the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos. Alice is a trustee of Arts Council England, the Michael Clark Dance Company and the Whitechapel Gallery in London. She is also chair of the board of trustees of the Chisenhale Gallery in London.

Born in Manchester, Alice graduated in art and architectural history from Cambridge University. She then became an award-winning journalist for the Financial Times, working as a foreign correspondent in Paris and pioneering the FT's coverage of the creative industries. From 2001 to 2006, Alice was director of the Design Museum in London.

An honorary senior fellow of the Royal College of Art, she has served on numerous cultural juries including the Turner Prize for contemporary art, the Stirling Prize for architecture, the British Council’s selection panel for the Venice Architecture Biennale, the PEN History Book Prize, the Aga Khan Award for Architecture, the Buckminster Fuller Challenge and the BAFTA film and television awards.

Alice is a past chair of the British Council’s Design Advisory Group and a past member of the Design Council and of the government’s advisory panel on the BBC Charter Review. Before joining the board of Arts Council England in 2007, Alice was ACE's lead advisor on the visual arts and chaired the Turning Point Review of the Contemporary Visual Arts, which led to a record increase in funding for the sector.

As well as contributing essays to a number of books on design and contemporary culture, Alice is the author of an acclaimed biography of the fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent. Her next book, "Hello World: Where Design Meets Life" on the changing role of design in our lives, is to be published by Hamish Hamilton in March 2013.