Murray Moss is an American

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value in ways that generally entail beyond the minimal amount of risk (assumed by a traditional business), and potentially involving values besides simply economic ones. An entreprene ...

and founder of the design art company Moss, as well as the design consultancy Moss Bureau. He began his career as a professional actor in the

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and

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, following studies at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

and the

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, School of the Arts. In 1978, in collaboration with Dutch designer Ronaldus Shamask, Moss launched the fashion label Shamask, which became known for its architectural and structural qualities—then, a pioneering approach to clothing design. The company rapidly expanded to include broad manufacturing of women's and men's fashions, with international distribution and licensing. In 1990, its

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s and trade names were sold. The Moss shop, which opened in 1994 in New York's

SoHo SoHo, short for "South of Houston Street, Houston Street", is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Since the 1970s, the neighborhood has been the location of many artists' lofts and art galleries, art installations such as The Wall ...

neighborhood, embodied principles of its namesake owner's prior careers. A sense of theatricality, reminiscent of experimental fashion, characterized the shop, which presented a curated selection of current and historical products, culled from designers and manufacturers around the world. Moss changed the presentation of products almost daily, keeping the store fresh with new ideas. In 2000, Moss and his business/life partner, Franklin Edward Getchell, expanded the store considerably by annexing two floors of the adjacent former art gallery, previously known as Metro Pictures. In January 2005, the store expanded yet again into a new corner building beside the existing two Moss shops, there launching Moss Gallery, a “theater-like” venue for regularly scheduled special exhibitions. In May 2006, with partner-restaurateur Nicola Marzovilla, the business expanded yet again, adding an Italian restaurant and wine shop. Also in 2006, the company hit the West Coast with a store on Melrose Avenue in

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and, in 2008, with a Moss shop in the Philippe Starck-designed SLS Hotel at Beverly Hills. In the wake of economic

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, however, all the Moss shops and galleries closed by early 2012. At that juncture, the Moss Bureau was founded—a consultancy that purposefully "intervenes" in museum-retail operations, while also offering curatorial and other advisory services. Moss is the recipient of the 2002 Chrysler Design Award and Russel Wright Award. In 2000, he received House Beautiful's Giants of Design Award and, in 2004, the Metropolitan Home Modernism Award. In 2007, he was chosen for the Travel & Leisure award for Best New Restaurant Design for Centovini. That same year, he was elected to Interior Design magazine's Hall of Fame. He has been a frequent guest lecturer at design venues and universities, including the

Harvard Graduate School of Design The Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD) is the graduate school of design at Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It offers master's and doctoral programs in architecture, landscape architecture, urba ...

, Yale School of Architecture, Hammer Museum, Aspen Institute, Cooper Hewitt Museum, and the TED conference (2002). He is on the graduate faculty of the School of Visual Arts. The three books he has authored include two published by Rizzoli: ''Georg Jensen Reflections and Baccarat: 250 Years,'' and ''Tertium Quid for August Editions.''

External links

Official Moss website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moss, Murray Living people Year of birth missing (living people)