Contemporary Modern Dakota Jackson Gray Leather Club Armchair, 1980s

Today, Dakota Jackson’s luxury chairs, sofas, tables and other pieces are known for their stylish and expressive forms, so it’s perhaps not a surprise that the American contemporary furniture designer has spent a lifetime immersed in the arts.

Born to a family of professional magicians, Jackson was raised in a household that had a flair for the dramatic. A young Dakota moved to Manhattan and mingled with the bustling creative scene. There, he studied minimalist dance at multiple companies, performed with an experimental theater group and worked in special effects. His fascination with illusion and drama seeped into his creative inclinations, especially when he decided to shift his artistic energy toward furniture.

Jackson’s foray into design began in the 1970s when he got his hands dirty during the build-out of his loft apartment in New York City’s Chelsea neighborhood back when lofts weren’t quite the heavenly residences of today. He constructed his own walls and bathroom fixtures and worked with a variety of materials that included lacquered wood, leather and chrome-plated steel, crafting intriguing seating and case pieces that would later end up in museums. (His famed Library chair is part of the collection at Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum.)

Jackson’s work became so well known throughout the buzzing art scene that he garnered the attention of reputable antique dealers who enlisted him to restore their own pieces of furniture. In 1974, Yoko Ono became a client. She commissioned Jackson to design a desk for John Lennon’s birthday. After he finished the former Beatle’s custom piece — an unconventional Art Deco–style writing desk that mirrored a Chinese puzzle box with secret compartments and hidden drawers — celebrities flocked to Jackson like bees to honey, and his name became synonymous with immaculate craftsmanship as well as the era’s radical American Art Furniture movement, which drew on Surrealism, Pop art and other traditions.

Even Belgian fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg asked Jackson to create the now-famous Eclipse bed, a sensual, striking structure framed in glossy cherrywood and upholstered in satin. In 1978, the lifelong arts lover paired a piano factory with his furniture manufacturing company and collaborated with Steinway & Sons on the design of several limited-edition pianos over the years. Today, Dakota Jackson, Inc., counts massive corporations among his clients and continues to design new collections.

Find a collection of Dakota Jackson furniture on 1stDibs.