Francesca Amfitheatrof and Alastair Curtis Appointed to RCA USA Board of Trustees

RCA USA – with the support of RCA students, alumni and supporters in the US – helps achieve international standards of excellence in postgraduate education for artists and designers which closely aligns with the RCA and its long history. 

Tim Brown, Chair of RCA USA and CEO, IDEO, said: ‘It gives me great pleasure to welcome my fellow RCA Alumni, Francesca Amfitheatrof (Jewellery & Silversmithing, 1993) and Alastair Curtis (Industrial Design Engineering, 1992), to the RCAUSA fold as Trustees. Their fantastic experience and international networks, will undoubtedly help shape the future of postgraduate international art and design education.’ 

Jeweller, Francesca Amfitheatrof, became the Artistic Director of Jewellery and Watches at Louis Vuitton in 2018 and launched her own brand 'Thief and Heist' in 2019. Tiffany & Co appointed Francesca as the first-ever female Design Director in 2014. In 2010 she opened the Gucci Museo in Florence as Head Curator. During her tenure she curated shows by Bill Viola, Cindy Sherman and Joana Vasconcelos. Francesca graduated from the RCA with her Master’s degree in Jewellery & Silversmithing in 1993, and subsequently trained with a master craftsman and received commissions from Chanel, Fendi, Asprey, Garrard, Marni and Wedgewood.

Alastair Curtis is Chief Design Officer at Logitech, where he is responsible for leading design across all of Logitech's business teams and brands. Alastair has more than 20 years of experience in design innovation. Prior to joining Logitech, he was Chief Designer and Senior Vice President at Nokia, and Head of Design and Vice President of Mobile Phones for Nokia before that. Alastair has an MA in Industrial Design Engineering from the RCA and a BSc degree in Industrial Design Engineering from Brunel University. 

For further information, additional images or to arrange interviews please contact RCA Communications and Marketing Department: [email protected]

About the RCA

The Royal College of Art, the  world’s number one university for art and design, provides students with unrivalled opportunities to deliver art and design projects that transform the world.

A small, specialist and research-intensive postgraduate institution based in the heart of London, the RCA is a high performing, radical traditionalist in a fast paced world.

The RCA's approach is founded on the premise that art, design, creative thinking, science, engineering and technology must all collaborate to solve today's global challenges.

The College employs around 1000 professionals from around the world – professors, researchers, art and design practitioners, advisers and visiting lecturers – to teach and develop students in 30 academic programmes.

RCA students are exposed to new knowledge in a way that encourages them to experiment. Working across scientific and technical canvases and beyond set boundaries, RCA students seek to solve real-world problems.

The RCA runs joint courses with Imperial College London and the Victoria & Albert Museum. InnovationRCA, the College’s centre for enterprise, entrepreneurship, incubation and business support, has helped over 50 RCA business ideas become a reality that has led to the creation of over 600 UK jobs.

The RCA GenerationRCA campaign, launched in 2019, propels the College’s radical new academic vision by focusing on three key pillars: ‘Place, Projects and People’. This programme sees the RCA transform its campuses and the ways in which the College teaches, researches and creates. It includes the construction of the Herzog & de Meuron-design flagship building in Battersea and introduction of future programmes centres on nano and soft robotics, computer science and machine learning, materials science and the circular economy. 

Alumni include Sir David Adjaye OBE, Christopher Bailey MBE, Sir James Dyson CBE, David Hockney OM CH RA, Tracey Emin CBE, Thomas Heatherwick CBE, Lubaina Himid CBE, Dame Zandra Rhodes DBE, Sir Ridley Scott and Clare Waight Keller.