Award-winning industrial designer Defne Koz was born in Turkey and raised professionally in Italy. Her idea of design is influenced by her training in Ettore Sottsass’ studio in Milan, the combination of her Turkish and Italian culture, and her curiosity for very different product types.

Her interests span from humanizing new technologies to rediscovering the tradition of hand made products. Common to all her projects are her distinctive design language and research on the sensorial qualities of materials.

She is a partner of Koz Susani Design, based in Chicago, with Marco Susani, where she designs iconic, emotionally engaging, innovative award-winning products and experiences. Their designs bridge domestic objects to high-tech devices, from high-touch materials to interaction design, luxury crafts to mass-manufactured products, always focusing on high quality design that embraces vision and innovation while preserving human, emotional qualities.

She is a member of the Art and Design Advisory Board of Akbank and was a member of the Board of the Istanbul Design Biennale 2012. IMM Koelnmesse invited her to be a Trend Board Member for 2011 and to design the exhibition “Surprising Empathy” during the Koeln Furniture Fair. She has been a jury member for Italy’s Compasso d’Oro Award, Germany’s iF and Red Dot Awards, and France’s Cannes Lions Award.