Three Layer Cake

Women to Watch in 2007 

“There’s nothing new under the sun” is a phrase that is oft repeated in interior product design fora.  In anticipation of the launch of the beginning of the interiors trade fair season next week with imm Cologne, here’s a two part feature on ten women who can prove that there is still tremendous creative potential product design.  Divided into two parts, this week’s feature will focus on four women who are behind the scenes contributing greatly to the development of design and also to the diffusion of design not only as a mass market product to be enjoyed by all, but also a sector of design to be enjoyed as refined pieces of art.  Next week will present the designers themselves...  (Don't miss the sister post on designsponge which will focus on Grace Bonney's picks!)

Grace Bonney.  Better known as designsponge, most people online who read about design or look for products have come across her blog, and her daily unique visit totals prove that these people like what they see.  While Grace began blogging primarily about American design as a passion, she has skillfully and successfully molded the blog into a functional vehicle to promote student and independent designers.  Every few months, Grace adds a feature to her blog that increases the opportunities for many underexposed designers to gain visibility.  In the past year, she increased her sphere of influence by blogging for House & Garden as well.  Last fall, she launched the designsponge shop which focuses on limited edition pieces by independent designers and devolves a percentage of the ad sales to charity.  This year she is taking this one step further and devolving a percentage of those sales to a scholarship fund which will ultimately reward three student designers.  Keep your eyes on her blogspot to see the multimedia features she will add over the next few months, and the four other projects dedicated to all facets of design, both American and international.  Grace is also doing a series on Women to Watch, starting with Alyssa Ettinger.

Dieneke Ferguson.  Dieneke is the mastermind behind the East London-based organization Hidden Art which she founded to foster visibility and accessibility of the handicrafts of East London’s designermakers.  Dieneke started over fifteen years ago, and has continued to expand her membership base and area of operation.  Her goal is to take Hidden Art world wide and she’s fast working on the next stop after having added Cornwall to the original East London base in 2006.  Press coverage of members has been steadily increasing, with designers like Jeremy Cole, Susan Bradley, and Black + Blum receiving prominent placement in the design media and museum shops, which can’t help but lend credibility to Hidden Art and the services it provides to its members to help develop their careers and manage their products better.  Dieneke says all the kudos go to the designers.  In 2007, read the fine print—  Hidden Art will continue its ascent into prime time and solidify its reputation as a quality ‘brand’ in the design field.

Clémence Krzentowski.  Passionate about design, Clémence and husband Didier are long time design collectors who turned their vast personal collection and expertise in and passion for contemporary design into a Parisian gallery named kreo seven years ago.  As their collections evolved, kreo began to commission pieces from designers in addition to featuring coveted limited edition pieces.  In this way, Clémence and Didier took the concept of the limited edition piece one step further and became protagonists themselves in the design world they so much love.  The recent high prices fetched by pieces by contemporary designers like the Campana Brothers, Marc Newson and Zaha Hadid have made it to international news and financial media, and accompanying the stories is always Clémence’s name and that of kreo.  kreo has become an incubator for valid pieces, a “laboratory-space dedicated to the research of the artists involved,” by established designers like the Bouroullecs, Martin Szkeley, Jerzsy Seymour, and Ettore Sottsass as well as newer designers like Wieki Somers and Julia Lohmann.  Watch the kreo exhibit schedule to see who will be the next star…

Ambra Medda.  Ambra is the co-founder of Design Miami/, a bi-annual invitational design event showcasing the world’s leading historical and contemporary design galleries exhibiting museum-quality design and decorative arts. Design Miami/ launched in 2005 and is all the rage for anyone and everyone interested in seeing, buying, or learning about historic and contemporary interior pieces.  While the beginning has been largely European (Paris) and American focused, Ambra is now dedicating her time to researching potential avenues for expansion beyond these two geographic areas. Design Miami/ is always looking for new galleries to include in its existing venues, and is also exploring new venues for additional events, like the Design Miami/ Basel initiative which took Design Miami/'s vision to Europe.  In DM/'s search to widen the range of design representation, she is especially interested in the Far East and South America.  But Ambra has a joint degree in Chinese Language and Culture and Asian Art, so you can be sure that Asia will figure into the equation as well.  Looks like DM/ will have conquered global design in just a very short time...  Check in at the next edition of Design Miami/ Basel in June to find out how far it has reached.  (12-16 June, Basel, Switzerland)