16 New Furnishing Products Designed by Women
This is a truth: product designers are mostly men. Will this ever truly change? We hope so. Until then, with a goal of gender parity and in honor of Women’s History Month Interior Design is celebrating 16 talented female makers in the world of product design. From a ceramic collection inspired by lockdown baking to a stool drawn from a reflection on earth core samples to archival pieces finding new recognition drawn from history’s rare pool of female designers, here are 16 freshly launched furnishing products designed by women.
1. Crystal by Charlotte Lancelot for Gan
Charlotte Lancelot studies the transparency of glass with an unexpected material: Wool. Three overlapping circles, hand-tufted for a gradient effect, suggest momentum and glass’s inherent fragility in her Crystal carpet collection for Gan.
2. Grace by Tove Kindt-Larsen for Gubi
A series of sketches dating back to 1936 recently uncovered in a folder of jewelry designs by Tove Kindt-Larsen, one of Denmark’s first 20th-century female designers, finds new life with Grace for Gubi. Fabricated by Indonesian artisans, the rattan chair is composed of a circular seat resting on a larger circular base with a looped rattan back. It’s shown with the powder-coated steel Gräshoppa, a floor lamp by Greta M. Grossman.
3. Core series by Susan Clark for Radnor
The natural veins of solid Breccia Stazzema marble, cut in Italy, are a standout feature in the Core series of side tables by Susan Clark for Radnor. Due to the luxurious stone material, each piece—inspired by core samples taken from the earth—is unique.
4. Unseen by Studiopepe for Petite Friture
Modular curved LED-light tubes are behind the contemporary form of Unseen for Petite Friture, a distinctive range of wall and ceiling fixtures by Arianna Lelli Mami and Chiara Di Pinto, the female duo behind Studiopepe. The collection is a tribute to the tubular shape of neon lighting tubes—without the high energy consumption.
5. Dough collection by Faye Toogood for Toogood
With so many lockdown bakers hard at work, a homeware collection dedicated to the process fits right in. A “swelling plumpness,” according to press materials, defines the cast-stoneware mugs, jugs, and bowls in the Dough collection by Faye Toogood for her brand Toogood.
6. Bienvenue mirror by Marie Christine Dorner for Ligne Roset
With a curved piece of walnut paired with bevelled mirror glass, Bienvenue by Marie Christine Dorner for Ligne Roset serves double-duty as shelf and mirror in one.
7. Inky Dhow by Bethan Gray for CC-Tapis
Inky Dhow, a signature stripe pattern which has graced pottery, leather hides, and furnishings, is now the inspiration for a carpet collection. Hand-knotted from Himalayan wool and pure silk, Inky Dhow by Bethan Gray for CC-Tapis is produced in Nepal by Tibetan Artisans—without acids or chemicals.
8. Unity stool by Monica Förster for Zanat
The concept of “inseparable links [that] connect humanity as a whole” sparked Unity by Monica Förster. Both a side table and stool, the solid wood piece (available in black-stained maple and oiled walnut) is one of several products conceived for the 2020 Lockdown Dialogues, a project organized by Zanat focusing on the solitary time that much of the world experienced during the battle against COVID-19.
9. Interlace and Encircle by Karin An Rijlaarsdam for Kvadrat
The delicate irregularities of natural surfaces triggered the development of two new textiles by Karin An Rijlaarsdam for Kvadrat. Transparency and softness set the tone for the curtain Interlace, while Encircle—the fabrics are in complementary hues—combines naturally irregular bouclé and plain-dyed background yarns. Both fabrics are rendered in a flame-retardant 100% Trevira CS polyester.
10. Babel bowl by Lisa Ertel
Can computers generate appealing ceramics? Lisa Ertel thinks so. Her ceramic Babel bowl—celebrating what is usually discarded—gets its form from by-products of the 3D-printing process.
11. California by Kelly Wearstler for Farrow & Ball
Kelly Wearstler tunes into her home state for the California collection of low-VOC, water-based hues for Farrow & Ball—the eco paint company’s first palette curated by an outside designer. Faded Terracotta—revealed here—is among the eight serene, sun-faded shades inspired by the light of the Pacific and the landscape of California. “Living without color is like living without love,” Wearstler notes.
12. Eye AP9 by All the Way to Paris for &Tradition
A singular eye makes an expressive impression with Eye AP9, a hand-quilted, 100 percent organic cotton bedspread by Petra Olsson Gendt and Tanja Vibe, the female founders of All the Way to Paris, for &Tradition. Two layers add extra comfort to the artisanal piece, which can be flipped over for a more reduced motif showing just the stitching of the eye.
13. Sunny by Note Design Studio in collaboration with Gunilla Allard for Lammhults
In the late 1980s, Gunilla Allard became the first woman to design for furniture manufacturer Lammhults. The Swedish designer’s most recent piece, a collaboration with Note Design Studio, is the bent tubular steel (powder-coated or chrome-plated) and upholstered padded cushion Sunny. The easy chair takes cues from the designs and colors that emerged from Case Study House No. 8, which Charles and Ray Eames completed in California in 1949.
14. Aria by Rena Dumas for The Invisible Collection
Simple structural components transform into an avant-garde balancing act with Aria Consule by Rena Dumas (1937–2009), founder of Rena Dumas Architecture Intérieure. Part of a collection of reissued icons by the French interior architect and designer launched by The Invisible Collection, the archival piece is rendered in solid oak.
15. Tres Outdoor by Nani Marquina and Elisa Padrón for Nanimarquina
Carpets continue to venture outside with Tres Outdoor by Nani Marquina and Elisa Padrón for Nanimarquina. An outdoor version of the company’s popular Tres line yet still soft to the touch, Tres Outdoor is woven from 100 percent recycled PET fibers—embarking plastic bottles on a new lifecycle.
16. Linear Flow Tray Collection by Dawn Sweitzer for Ethnicraft
Each standard-sized, silk-screen printed glass and wood-rimmed tray in the Linear Flow tray collection by Dawn Sweitzer for Ethnicraft slips into a black metal-framed side table—allowing change of motif on a whim. Shown here is the Pumpkin Square tray, within the Square Tray side table.
