Alice Rawsthorn was born in Manchester in 1958 and graduated in art and architectural history from Cambridge University. She has worked for the 'Financial Times' for ten years, writing about fashion, design, and latterly films, music and technology. From 1991 to 1994 she lived and worked in France as the 'FT''s Paris correspondent. She now lives in London and is a trustee of the Design Museum and a board member of the Design Council of Great Britain.