After graduating from the University of Bridgeport in Connecticut and spending a year in New York working on designing appliances, Kane and his wife headed for Milan, Italy, where he literally knocked on doors. One opened—architect Silvio Coppola's—and it changed his life. "Seeing his passion for design was a real head turner for me," says Kane, who decided that furniture design was what he wanted to pursue. He returned to New York after a year and took a position with Atelier International (ai). In 1977, he joined the Metropolitan Furniture Corporation (Metro) later becoming one of the owning partners. While at Metro, he got involved in manufacturing, another key learning experience. "It's such an integral part of what we do," he explains.
