I want to share some multi-talented LGBTQ+ designers with a brilliant ethos shaping our world. I hope I can introduce you to these fabulous souls carving out a space for celebration of the arts.
June was dedicated to LOVE LOVE LOVE and being who you are in the most gorgeous and authentic way possible. It was month of celebrating and honoring your highest self–the self that exists apart from hate and discrimination. The part that is all love, and has only ever been love.
At first, due to time limitations, I was going to create an instagram post highlighting various LGBTQ+ designers influencing the industry. However, when doing my research, over and over again I was just presented with male designers. Most publications were only including LGBTQ+ designers who were white men. Hmm…curiouser and curiouser.
Now, I KNOW there are female, non binary, and BIPOC members of the LGBTQ+ community who are not getting their deserved attention. This certainly doesn’t discount the talented LGBTQ+ designers who are white men, but as a whole, we can do better in terms of diversity and inclusion.
So, because of this gap, my instagram post has expanded to this very blog post highlighting talented LGBTQ+ designers who are not white men. This was such a joy to put together and I learned so much!
LGBTQ+ Designers to Know
I am thrilled to share with you some creative geniuses including a little history lesson with 2 women from the 1800s who single handedly shaped 2 historic design styles.
Elsie de Wolfe
interior design
Literally America’s first interior designer! Meet Elsie de Wolfe. In the late 1800s, while everyone else was going for Victorian maximalism, Elsie opposed this cold dark aesthetic, instead inviting in open space and warm grounding colors.
Elsie was way ahead of her time and a true trailblazer, having influence over styles in our homes today. She took things from moody and cluttered to light, airy, and vibrant. Transportive interiors started here.
In 1905, Elsie became a professional designer and in 1907, she single handedly popularized chintz, garnering her the nickname ‘The Chintz Lady’. The vine and garden motifs, wicker furniture, and transportive serenity you see today is because of Elsie.
Learn more at Architectural Digest
Pearl Dick
glasswork artistry and design
Pearl is an artisan and activist, cofounding Project FIRE (Fearless Initiative for Recovery and Empowerment) in Chicago. Project FIRE is an arts program seeking to heal trauma through the art of glassblowing.
Project FIRE is part of the nonprofit, Firebird Community Arts, with a focus on trauma based youth programming. The program features a lot of ceramic and glassblowing along with mental health support from professionals.
Blown glass at Firebird | photo: Andrew Davis
Pearl has been working in glassblowing for over 20 yeas and shows in museums and galleries all over the country. She was recently honored as a visiting artist of the Museum of Glass. Her work seeks to illuminate our connection while encouraging empathy and inclusion.
Jane Greenwood
architecture
In November 2017, OUT magazine named Jane, Principal of Kostow Greenwood Architects, as one of the most influential people of the year. She was also recognized by BUILD Magazine, the Women Builders Council, and named a Woman of Influence by New York Business Journal.
Here’s what e-architect says of Greenwood,
Having co-founded OLGAD (Organization of Lesbian + Gay Architects and Designers) in the 1990s, Greenwood is recognized as a pioneer in the struggle for visibility in the architecture profession for under-represented individuals and their contributions, most notably leading to the formation of the New York City LGBT Historic Sites Project.
This is the New York Residential Tower and Cultural Center concept by KGA. Its aim is to fuse residential living with community spaces such as a concert hall, support spaces, and even offices.
Sarah Barnard
interior design
Sarah Barnard is a LEED and WELL accredited designer as well as a certified Naturalist. For 7 consecutive years, she was awarded ‘Best of Houzz’. She has appeared in publications such as Elle Decor, Vogue, HGTV, Architectural Digest, and more.
Sarah skillfully creates restorative spaces that are deeply connected to the environment. As someone who fully believes in the power of interior design for wellness, I was struck immediately by a blog post by Sarah entitled, ‘Interior Design for Empaths’. Sarah approaches projects with active listening, slow design, and awareness and sensitivity. How beautiful is that?!
Geronimo Louie
fashion design
Geronimo Louie is a Two-Spirit Chiricahau Apache and Dine fashion designer. ‘Two spirit’ is used by many indigenous people to describe the gender, sexual, and/or spirit identification of having both a masculine and feminine spirit.
Louie is a viral hit on TikTok and was named an LGBTQ+ TikTok Trailblazer. His passion for fashion was influenced by watching his grandmother hand sew traditional garments growing up.
He creates Saanii scarf dresses, silk skirts, tribal printed suits, corsets, and more. During the pandemic, Louie started posting the designs he was making and gained popularity.
Vogue style writer and Ojibwe tribe member, Christian Allair, reached out for an interview after seeing Louie’s delicate ribbon work. Louie describes this as huge honor, because ribbon work originated from the Ojibwe, so it was really special having his work recognized by an indigenous tribe member.
Eileen Gray
architecture, interior design, furniture design
Eileen was one of the first people to study at the Slade School of Fine Art in 1898. Her journey began with the study and production of art and then she studied under Japanese master craftsman, Seizo Sugawara, to learn the Japanese lacquer technique. She used this technique to create a series of geometric screens, landing her notoriety among the Parisian elite. You can recognize the influence of her screens today!
Eileen’s influence doesn’t stop there. She went on to own a business (under the less gendered name, ‘Jean’, because: sexism), design a villa (after becoming an architect in her late 40s), and land herself as an iconic designer of high profile midcentury modern furnishings like the classic chrome and glass table below.
Recognize any other iconic pieces designed by Gray?
Sophie Colle
product design
Sophie studied industrial design at Virginia Tech before moving on to work at a contemporary art museum, in high end residential design, and then to start her own business.
In 2020, she started her design studio by *hand building* various furnishings to raise money for mutual aid organizations. She was then able to release her first furniture collection with Areaware.
Sophie creates colorful and quirky furniture pieces that also double as art. She draws on her experiences in various creative industries to create her fantastical furniture offerings dripping with delight.
Fun fact: I saved her Splat table (pictured above) for 2 different kids’ room projects in 2 different states. So it was so fun to learn she was the designer behind them!
Shavonda Gardner
interior design
In her bio, Shavonda’s MO is “inspiring ideas for living large in small spaces.” As a fellow small space haver, I feel this mission in my soul! She has a refined eye in creating layered, eclectic, and moody spaces oozing with life. She pulls from her former nomadic lifestyle and expertly crafts globally inspired spaces that are a feast for the eye.
Her spaces are a mix of high end and budget, new and second hand. A design ethos that serves both the environment and other small businesses.
Shavonda says,
“I also believe in supporting creatives of color, independent artists, and girl bosses by shopping small businesses whenever possible.”
Isabel Rower
product design
Isabel Rower is next up on our list of talented, multi-hyphenate LGBTQ+ designers. She works in the product design world, merging functionality of furniture with the art of sculpture. Rower studied furniture design at the Rhode Island School of Design and now is an artist living and working in Brooklyn.
Isabel has shown with countless prominent art galleries and even developed products for Kim and Kanye’s former home while she was still an undergrad.
Featured above is her ceramic sculpture entitled, ‘The Sky Contained My Garden Chair’, featuring Swarovski glass crystals in the ceramic base. Swoon.
Isabel continues to operate with a sense of curiosity and whimsy, careful not to contain herself and instead, using full creative expression to handcraft her masterpieces.
I hope you enoyed learning about these prominent LGBTQ+ designers who are shaping our world with their devotion to arts and the greater good.
To honor Pride month, 10% of my design fees from June were donated to an organization I support: The Trevor Project. The Trevor Project is a vital non-profit suicide prevention organization providing 24/7 crisis support for LGBTQ+ youth. It is an honor to donate.
I would be remiss not to discuss the safety and security one must feel in order to live their truth. Because it is *FAR* from easy. If you are a privileged cis white person, you likely will not understand. So it’s vital we listen.
The support of family, friends, and community members must be felt in order to do something as ‘radical’ in today’s world as to just be yourself. This is why it is absolutely imperative that we work together to create spaces of safety and love for all. Spaces that embrace, not reject, the many colors and layers that make you, you.
So let’s be that safety and love in our communities.