Women’s History Month - Paying Tribute to Women in Design
Sarah Elizabeth
For Women’s History Month, there are countless women I’d love to highlight and shed light on but for now choosing a few that influenced my life as a young designer starting out both studying & working in design decades ago, with their significant innovations in the design world. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, it was rare to hear a woman’s name associated with major architectural or design work. Social expectations kept many women out of professional practice, and many who did contribute were overlooked or overshadowed by male collaborators. In some cases, women worked alongside husbands or male partners, yet the recognition often went to the man — a pattern we see across many creative fields.
Thankfully, the design world today looks very different. It is filled with incredibly talented female designers whose work continues to shape how we live and experience spaces.
While studying historical styles and furniture design, a few trailblazing women stood out to me, and their stories stayed with me. I remember running to bookstores finding books about them, and devouring whatever I could about their lives, Elsie De Wolfe was both an acclaimed writer, and one of the first decorators, Dorothy Draper designed hotels in bold colors and patterns - when most had not heard of the interior design profession - nor thought it was one.
Visiting places like The Greenbrier, famously designed by Dorothy Draper, viewing the iconic furniture of Charlotte Perriand at the Museum of Modern Art, or seeing the Womb Chair in so many homes and offices that Florence Knoll influenced, shows they left a lasting mark on design - while their contributions were not fully recognized at the time.
Their work reminds us that design history is richer and more complex than the names we traditionally learned and want to do my small part in sharing it with the world, as these women didn’t just participate in design history, they helped shape it.
To learn about even more women in architecture and design, head on over to this article.