There is a team of female interior designers that never met, but together, created a pathway for the future of our phenomenal industry. We celebrate a few in our post today, kicking things off with noted interior designer Dorothy Draper. She was a lady of means and certainly didn’t have to work. She was a pioneer when women weren’t celebrated as pioneers.
Female interior designer Dorothy Draper was born in 1889 into a privileged family that lived in a very exclusive community of Tuxedo Park, New York. We believe that it is fair to say that she opened that pathway for other female interior designers.
In 1923, Miss Draper established the first interior design company in the United States, Dorothy Draper & Company. Opening her own company gave her full credit for “professionalizing” the interior design industry.
Next, we have interior designer Candace Wheeler (1827-1923), the “mother” of interior design. In 1877, along with some of her contemporaries, founded the Society of Decorative Arts in New York. This organization helped women financially by enabling them to support themselves with the crafts they created.
Female interior designer Elsie de Wolfe proved that her designs were just as essential as Stanford White’s architecture of the Colony Club. This important commission changed how one views essential public structures. Instead of having a masculine interior, Wolfe used pastel colors on the walls and light, airy fabric as window coverings. Her famous quote was, ”I opened the doors and windows of America, and let the air and sunshine in.” And that she did, everybody loved it.
Finally, we have Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky, who changed the point of view of our daily lives. Margarete is accredited with the design of the built-in kitchen. Her prototype for this was called the Frankfurt Kitchen design. She used a railroad car kitchen as her design, and this creative venture was called the “housewife laboratory.” The Frankfurt City Council installed ten thousand prefab kitchens.
Each of these ladies influenced the interior design industry into what it is today—an industry of style and inclusion on so many levels.
Photo Credit: ILFOGLIETTO.IT
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