2023
Women in Design
Lumens is celebrating Women in Design who’ve inspired generations of women to take their place in the largely male-dominated fields of architecture and design.
Read on to learn more about the Pioneers who’ve founded movements and design innovations, the Disruptors of the status quo and the Trendsetters leading the way.
Pioneers
Often breaking ground in more ways than one, these pioneering women led the way for entire artistic eras and movements, introduced new techniques and innovated the business of design.
Pioneers
Anna Castelli Ferrieri
The Kartell co-founder’s Componibili storage collection debuted at Salone de Mobile in 1967. The first modular plastic furniture of its kind, Ferrieri set out to create an innovative design that would be both beautiful and functional—and now more than a half century later, the icon can be found in the permanent collections of New York’s MoMA and Paris’ Centre Pompidou, and in homes and offices around the world.
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Shop Charlotte's Designs
The Face of Swedish Modernism
Greta Grossman
All but forgotten for decades, this Scandinavian original has rightfully reclaimed her place among the greats of mid-century modern design.
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Founding Member of the Memphis Group
Martine Bedin
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A Q+A with
Sandy Chilewich
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The Foremother of Good Design
Ray Eames
Even if she was rarely given the spotlight, Ray was as strong a force in the world of mid-century modern design as her partner Charles, who said it best: “Whatever I can do, Ray can do better.”
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Co-Designer of the Barcelona Chair
Celebrating Lilly Reich
Though her legacy went largely unnoted for the last half-century, the name Lilly Reich will forever be engrained into the history of German modernist design.
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Disruptors
When the industry needed a new direction, these disruptors shook the tree. From radical new design principles to introducing Free-Trade sourcing, these women turned the old guard on its ear and the design world is now a better place for it.
Disruptors
Joana Bover
In the heart of Spain’s creative community, Joana Bover and her talented team bring the Bover brand’s adaptive spirit and romantic outlook to light.
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A Q+A with :
Carlotta de Bevilacqua
A formally trained architect with decades of lighting design experience, the Artemide CEO understands the interplay between lighting and space—and the interplay of creativity and innovation it takes to run a world-renowned design company.
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Queen of the Curve:
An Interview with Zaha Hadid
Our 2015 interview with the incomparable designer about the early days of her architecture career, painting and product design, and what it meant to be a woman in the design world.
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Photo by Massimiliano Sticc
At A Fork in the Road, Take Both Paths:
Patricia Urquiola
While her career path started with a specialization in architecture, it was the early and influential mentorship of FLOS’ Achille Castiglioni that encouraged her to set her sights on the broader world of design.
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Photo by ©Albert Font
The Creative Craftsmanship of
Nani Marquina
Revolutionizing the way rugs were made was only the beginning—Nani Marquina’s sustainable, socially responsible, craftsmen-driven design paradigm is setting the bar for the next generation.
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Trendsetters
From established names to emerging designers, these visionary women are pushing the global design discussion forward while setting the tone for what is trending now.
Trendsetters
Jette Scheib
Jette Scheib studied product design at the University of the Arts in Berlin, before founding her own studio in 2005. Driven by curiosity and the desire to create something that “adds a new context or dimension to a functional object,” Scheib describes her designs process as “inspired by nature and organic shapes, but also by people and everyday life.”
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Lindsey Adelman
Lindsey Adelman instantly knew industrial design was in her future after witnessing an artisan carve a lifelike french fry out of Styrofoam. Her designs toe the line between sculpture and design, taking inspiration from history, poetry, architecture and modernism. Her work has been shown at the Cooper Hewitt Museum, Design Miami and Milan’s Nilufar Gallery.
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Justina Blakeney
Justina’s signature design aesthetic of organic textures, pops of color and endless houseplants has launched a modern design movement dubbed “Jungalow” (named after her Los Angeles bungalow filled with plants to a jungle-like state.) Justina Blakeney x Loloi is a collaboration that lives the California Modern lifestyle to the fullest.
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Photo by ©Sarah Makharine
Petite Friture Goes Big
A Conversation with Amelie du Passage
Established in 2009 with the intent to make good things happen, Petite Friture’s founder shares her original and enduring approach to design, collaboration and inspiration.
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Photo by Jara Varela
Nina Masó of Santa & Cole
A 2019 interview with the late Santa & Cole co-founder on her design philosophies, the editing process and the future of her forward-thinking company.
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Melding Technology with Traditional Crafts and Building a Design Business in South Africa
Thabisa Mjo
As owner and designer of Mash.T, a premier South African design studio, Thabisa Mjo has a different origin story than many new designers.
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Photo Courtesy of WantedDesign
From Leaf to Light:
Rosie Li Studio
While paper—preferably the weight of cardstock— remain Li’s dream medium, her Brooklyn-based studio most often works with the traditional materials of stone, brass and glass to create lighting fixtures that seamlessly adapt to and illuminate the interiors in which they’re hung.
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Lighting as Exquisite as Jewels
Nina Magon for Studio M
Revolutionizing the way rugs were made was only the beginning—Nani Marquina’s sustainable, socially responsible, craftsmen-driven design paradigm is setting the bar for the next generation.
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Photo by ©Martin Chum
Bohemian Rhapsody in Glass
Lucie Koldova
An interview with the creative director of Czech glass studio Brokis, whose elegant problem-solving, production methods and aesthetic define a movement in modern glassmaking.
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Exclusively at Lumens
Omma Collection
by Eli Gutiérrez for LZF
Collaborative and cross-cultural, Eli Gutierrez has worked with design greats like Patricia Urquiola and Philippe Starck on her way to the top. Her Omma collection for LZF emulates fluttering leaves as ingenious materials combine to create a movable—and moving—design.
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Vertigo Pendant in Bronze
by Constance Guisset for Petite Friture
Experimenting with stretching ribbons, Constance Guisset imagined the dreamy and wide-brimmed Vertigo Pendant as a young design student. As the fixture grew larger, the ribbons became thinner, light was added, and the now-iconic pendant found its home with Parisian-based studio, Petite Friture.
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Lens Collection
by Lucie Koldova for Fabbian
The latest innovation from Lucie Koldova, Lens was born from the idea of capturing light, filtering it, and then releasing it in a renewed way into the environment. The design takes the shape of a lens that concentrates and diverges the sun’s rays.
