Ken Okuyama

by Gauk
Wed, Nov 2, 2016 11:08 PM

Ken Okuyama (born 1959) is a Japanese industrial designer and owner of the Ken Okuyama Design company.

Okuyama formerly worked for Pininfarina designing and supervising projects such as the Enzo Ferrari and Ferrari P4/5. His given name is Kiyoyuki Okuyama but goes by Ken Okuyama outside Japan. He was born in the city of Yamagata, Japan, but lives in Italy, and speaks Japanese, Italian, and English fluently.

Okuyama graduated from the Art Center College of Design in 1986. For the next 3 years he was a visiting professor at Tohoku University of Art and Design. In 1991, he returned to teach part-time at the Art Center College of Design in California. Between 2000 and 2004, he was Chair of the Transportation Design Department at the college, but in 2004, he was offered a job at Pininfarina.

Ken Okuyama worked for General Motors and Porsche, helping design the new generation Porsche 911 (aka 996) as well as the Boxster. Before moving to Pininfarina, he worked for General Motors in the Advanced Concepts Center in California.

On 10 May 2004, Ken Okuyama began work as Creative Director at Pininfarina. He had been working with Pininfarina before, supervising the design of the Enzo Ferrari. As Creative Director Ken oversaw projects including the Ferrari 599, Mitsubishi Colt CZC, Maserati Birdcage 75th and Ferrari P4/5.

In 2006, Okuyama left Pininfarina and set up his own design firm, Newton Design Lab. In late 2007, Okuyama launched the Ken Okuyama Eyes collection, an eyewear collection manufactured in Japan.

In 2008, Ken Okuyama presented his first concept car under his own name - the K.O. 7 Spider, a carbon fiber and unpainted aluminum two-seater. The K.O. 7 was unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show in March 2008. Ken Okuyama has cooperated with the luxury watch producer TAG Heuer, having fitted the TAG Heuer Grand Carrera at the dashboard of the car. The interior of the concept car was inspired by the design of the TAG Heuer watch.

In 2008, Ken Okuyama's design studio produced the first 20 models of the K.O. 7 Spider, already pre-sold to an 'inner circle' of designer's fans. It was followed by the production of 99 cars in 2009 and 99 more in 2010.

In 2016 he launched the Kode 57 Kenji at The Quail. This car was based on the 2000 Pininfarina Ferrari Rossa concept car.

Company profile:

Name: KEN OKUYAMA

Office: Aoyama Studio & Showroom, Minato-ku, Tokyo

Foundation: April 10th, 2007

Capital: JPY 100 million

CEO: Kiyoyuki ‘Ken’ Okuyama

Employee: 45 persons (as of August 2016)

History:

October, 2006: Established headquarters in Yamagata

April, 2007: Converted to Stock Company

May, 2007: Launched eyewear brand KEN OKUYAMA EYES