Designer Tom Dixon, the eternal rebel, shares his views in Hong Kong talks

For the past 25 years Tom Dixon has been turning out instant classics, from furniture and lighting to his more recent foray into the world of architecture and interiors.

Late last year the self-taught designer was responsible for redeveloping a 1970s Thames-side office building into one of London's most intriguing new hotels, the Mondrian London.

This month he unveils a conceptual pop-up "traditional market" with his newest range of home and office products, including scented candles and sleek minimalist stationery, at five Lane Crawford stores.

Paradoxically, Dixon's longevity in the notoriously fickle world of modern design owes much to his infamous disregard for following fashions and trends. Following his creative instincts, celebrating for example, traditional craftsmanship and materials such as copper and iron at a time when modern plastics prevailed, has proved key to his success, he says.

"It also helps that I didn't have any formal training. I've always been more interested in the making of things and not having studied design allowed me to experiment without any constraints, to bring something new. I prefer to come to something with as little as possible."

The London-based designer, who dropped out of art school after just six months to play bass guitar with his post-punk band Funkapolitan, rediscovered the creative world almost by accident after teaching himself how to weld in the early '80s.