While recovering from a motorcycle accident, Tom Dixon found himself with a lot of time on his hands. Being an art school dropout without any technical skills, Tom Dixon started teaching himself how to become a designer-maker after discovering welding while he was trying to repair his damaged motorcycle.

Tom Dixon was brought to England as a toddler. He grew up in London after he was born in Sfax, Tunisia in 1959. Tom Dixon played bass guitar in the Funkapolitan band as well as organized warehouse parties before he taught himself welding after dropping out of art school in 1980.

Tom Dixon made his name in the early eighties through his designs that matched the post-punk era. Despite having made his name, Tom Dixon did not have enough money; therefore, he made limited editions of his welded furniture and sold them. He designed chairs such as the Pylon Chair and the S Chair.

Tom Dixon got his furniture manufactured by Eurolounge Company that also produces work for other designers like Michael Young. Once his furniture was produced, Tom Dixon tried retailing them by opening a furniture shop to sell his products. As head of design at Habitat, he continued to collaborate with his fellow designers. Tom Dixon reissued archive designs from designers such as Robin Day, Ettore Sottsass, as well as Verner Pantion.

Tom Dixon also commissioned new designs from Marc Newson, Ineke Hans, Erwan Bouroullec as well as Ronan. Despite being creative director at the Finnish furniture manufacturer Artek founded by Alvar Aalto in the 1930s , Tom Dixon continues to initiate new design projects as an independent designer.

Tom Dixon was once described as a vertebrate designer by a friend. He designs from the bones outwards and does not really pay much attention about the surface of his finished products. At Chelsea school of art, Tom Dixon was made a technician at the tender age of 18 years, where he got involved in welding and making welding related products that was more of a hobby than a career option.

Tom Dixon looks at his drop out from Art school as having been an advantage to him since it allowed him to experiment and make his own mistakes in design without any constraints. Working with the head of Italian furniture manufacturer Giulio Cappellini was very influential in developing Tom Dixon as a designer. It was a revelation into the world of design that is highly respected, well priced and has the potential to grow.

Tom Dixon became the head of design UK by the Habitat retail chain in 1998. He also became a creative director of Habitat and developed a mobile machine that made fresh fat plastic products.