Michael Amini
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Michael Amini is a Los Angeles-based businessman[1], entrepreneur and designer. He is the founder, Chairman and CEO of Amini Innovation Corp., (AICO) a supplier of home furnishings, lighting, rugs and home accents. Amini started AICO as an accent table resource importing occasional tables in 1988 and today, the company has evolved into a full line company.
Personal life
Amini was born in Tehran, Iran in 1956. As a young man, Amini left home to pursue higher education and explore new cultures, art and architecture. He traveled to Greece and France and later London, where he studied English for a year. In 1979, he traveled to the U.S. and attended college first in Virginia and then California where he graduated with a degree in electrical engineering from California State University Long Beach. Amini married in 1995, and the couple have two sons and currently reside in Southern California.
Career
Early in his career, Amini discovered engineering left him craving the elements of design and more creative pursuits. From engineering he ventured into the importing of high-end, luxury clothing and shoes that he sold to U.S. retailers. In 1988 Amini became interested in home furnishings and joined a Los Angeles based furniture manufacture as a sales representative. Just three months later, Amini ventured off to Asia to explore importing his own line of products and created AICO, Amini Innovation Corp. The business was started in a modest shared 6000-square-foot warehouse. Since those early days, AICO has grown under Amini's leadership and vision and the company is now headquartered in a 320,000-square-foot facility in Pico Rivera, Calif. In 2010, Amini teamed up with actress and artist Jane Seymour to create the "Michael Amini and Jane Seymour, A Design Collaboration"[2] division under the AICO umbrella. The designs and styles were inspired by Hollywood's elite social scene. In addition to his roles as Chairmen, CEO and head designer at AICO, Amini serves as president[3] of the American Home Furnishings Hall of Fame Foundation, an international, home furnishings industry wide organization created in 1990 to research, collect and preserve the industry's history.
Awards
The humanitarian side of Amini was honored in 2004 with the Lifetime Achievement Award[4] by City of Hope, a Duarte, Calif.-based research hospital focused on finding cures for cancer, diabetes and HIV. In 2007, City of Hope opened the doors of the Michael Amini Transfusion Medicine Center[5]. The three-story, 60,000-square-foot facility allowed City of Hope to consolidate its blood collection and procession programs to benefit patients and donors, as well as support its ongoing research programs. In 2013, Amini was honored by City of Hope with the Spirit of Life Award and in July of 2014, Amini was awarded an honorary doctorate degree[6] from City of Hope's Irell & Manella Graduate School of Biological Sciences.
References
- ↑ "How an unhappy electrical engineer became a thriving furniture designer". Los Angeles Times. June 28, 2015.
- ↑ "The Las Vegas furniture market shows off its glitzy, glamorous side with some bold, sexy designs". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
- ↑ http://hfbusiness.com/hfbnow/articleid/12540
- ↑ "City of Hope plans Spirit of Life Awards - Furniture Today". 14 October 2012.
- ↑ http://www.cityofhope.org/patients/cancers-and-treatments/departments-and-services/michael-amini-transfusion-medicine-center
- ↑ "Michael Amini receives honorary doctorate at City of Hope". July 27, 2014.
External links
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