From pioneers of modernity like Charlotte Perriand and Greta Magnusson Grossman to multi-talented people like Patricia Urquiola, Inga Sempé and Lucie Koldova – design by and for women is simply good. For International Women's Day we are showing the most exciting designs that are also available from us in Kosmos.
Greta Magnusson Grossmann in her studio.
THE PIONEERS
The design world is still a male-dominated field today. On International Women's Day, stilwerk is presenting strong design by and for strong women. Let's start with the pioneers of modernity. Eileen Gray, Charlotte Perriand and Greta Magnusson Grossmann: As different as their lives were, they had one thing in common: they created icons of modern product design.
EILEEN GRAY: E.1027 ADJUSTABLE TABLE & CARPET ART
She was a chain smoker, loved traveling and, in addition to her great talent, had enough financial freedom that allowed her independence and creative willfulness within a male-dominated world. The architect, artist and designer Eileen Gray is today best known for her groundbreaking furniture. However, her carpets with abstract motifs are less well known.
Born in Ireland in 1878, Eileen Gray traveled to Paris for the first time in 1900. In 1902 she visited the World Exhibition here and decided to continue the painting studies she had begun in London at the École Colarossi and the Académie Julian. From 1910, Eileen Gray turned from painting to design and began designing elaborate lacquered furniture - inspired by Art Nouveau and Japonisme at the turn of the century. Her abstract carpet designs are heavily influenced by Russian Constructivism and the Dutch artist group De Stijl. The wool for this came from Auvergne and was dyed in Paris. They were made by the Parisian workshop 'Evelyn Wyld'. Until the 1940s, Eileen Gray finally created the designs for which she is probably best known today. These include tubular steel furniture such as the “Bibendum” armchair (1926), the “E 1027 Adjustable Table” (1927), the “Bonaparte” armchair (1935) and the “Day Bed” (1935).
Today, in addition to her furniture classics such as the “E.1027 Adjustable Table”, a selection of Eileen Gray’s carpet designs are also manufactured by ClassiCon (authorized by The World License Holder Aram Designs Ltd.). Available at lomann[s] interior design in stilwerk Düsseldorf.
Top from left: Faubourg carpet, E.1027 Adjustable Table, Bibendum armchair, Monte Carlo sofa, photo: Elias Hassos / Eileen Gray, Copyright National Museum of Ireland
Below from left: Cassis carpet, E.1027 Adjustable Table in black, photo: Elias Hassos / De Stijl carpet, Occasional Table side table, pleated lamp, Bibendum armchair, photo: Elias Hassos
Everything from ClassiCon / www.classicon.com
GRETA MAGNUSSON GROSSMANN: GRÄSHOPPA
Greta Magnusson Grossmann designed the perfectly shaped “Gräshoppa” lamp in 1947. While very few people know her name today, the Swedish native was the decorator for the stars after she emigrated to the USA. Hollywood legends like Ingrid Bergmann, Greta Garbo and Frank Sinatra blindly trusted the creative European.
Grossman was already part of Scandinavia's design elite in the 1930s. She made a name for herself with her “studio,” which was a mixture of atelier, shop and workshop, and was the first woman to receive Sweden’s most important design award. During the Second World War, she emigrated to the USA via Japan with her husband Billy Grossman, a jazz musician of Jewish origin, and became a style influencer for Californian modernism. Her store on the popular Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, where she presented Scandinavian design, was one of the best addresses in the city.
After her husband's death in the late 1960s, Grossman withdrew from the design industry and fell into obscurity. Even today, her name cannot be found in many design encyclopedias. However, thanks to Evan Snyderman, an American gallery owner, it made a comeback in the late 1990s. By chance he discovered one of Grossman's desks and was immediately blown away, paving the way for Grossman to return to the living quarters. The Danish brand Gubi has been producing three lighting designs by the Swede since 2011. Including the iconic grasshopper, which is extremely picturesque in its fragile elegance.
© Photos Gräshoppa Gubi
Gräshoppa in the stilwerk: Discover Greta Magnusson Grossman's work at P.Art1 in the stilwerk Düsseldorf .
CHARLOTTE PERRIAND: LC SERIES
Charlotte Perriand, born in Paris in 1903, studied interior design at the Union Centrale des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, but broke with the traditional arts and crafts and began designing furniture. In 1928, Perriand accepted Le Corbusier's invitation to work in his studio. Inspired by the Bauhaus icons Marcel Breuer and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, the legendary “ LC ” seating furniture collection was created here at the end of the 1920s in collaboration with Le Corbusier and his cousin Pierre Jeanneret.
In the 1940s, she traveled to Japan as an arts and crafts advisor to the Japanese Ministry of Trade and Industry, spending a total of six years there and in Indochina. The experiences she gained there with Far Eastern minimalism were to have a lasting impact on her further work as a designer.
The artist and architect worked tirelessly well into her old age: in 1993, a UNESCO tea pavilion designed by her was opened in Paris. At the age of 94 she designed her last table made of wood and steel, and at the age of 95 her autobiographical work "Une vie de création" was published.
Top from left: Portrait of Charlotte Perriand / Indochine armchair
Below: LC4 chaise longue // Everything from Cassina, © Product photos: Cassina
Gray and Cassina products are available from the Bartels furniture store in stilwerk Düsseldorf.
PROTAGONISTS TODAY
The industry is still far from absolute equality - male colleagues continue to dominate the public perception and are decorated with prizes - but: A lot has happened in the last few decades and more and more women are joining the design industry with their work visible. We will now introduce a few of them. With their designs, which can also be found with us.
PATRICIA URQUIOLA
Patrica Urquiola's works can be described as a homely work of art with a feminine signature. The designer is part of a young generation of women who are asserting themselves ambitiously and self-confidently in a design world that is still dominated by men. extremely successful: Urquiola was voted Designer of the Year several times by ELLE Deco, Wallpaper Magazine, A&W Architektur & Wohnen, among others.
Born in Oviedo in 1961, she initially studied architecture in 1979 at the Faculdad de Arquitectura de Madrid under the Portuguese architect Alvaro Siza and at the Polytechnic in Milan under the famous Italian designer Achille Castiglioni, where she also received her doctorate. In 1991 she designed her first piece of furniture and headed product development at De Padova until 1996. The designer then specializes in interior design for showrooms and restaurants. She received the “International Design Award” from ELLE Deco for the famous “Antibodi” lounger, which she designed for Moroso. She worked for well-known companies such as B&B Italia, Driade, Molteni, Moroso, Foscarini SRL and Hansgrohe/Axor or Kartell. Urquiola has been Cassina's creative director since 2015. In addition to new designs for the brands, such as the “Sengu Bold” sofa or the “Trampoline Table” outdoor table, the Spaniard is responsible for the holistic design of the brand.
The sofa "Sengu Bold" for Cassina ( © Cassina) , followed by the table "Trampoline Table ( © Cassina) , Jelly for Kartell, Comeback for Kartell ( © Kartell) , portrait of Patricia Urquiola.
Cassina is available from the Bartels furniture store in stilwerk Düsseldorf. The furniture from Kartell at Kartell in the stilwerk Düsseldorf and at Wohnart in the stilwerk Hamburg. You can find the fittings collection for Axor in the stilwerk Hamburg at Axor - the Water Studio .
INGA SEMPÉ
With her sensitivity and flair for functionality, Inga Sempé made a name for herself primarily as a lighting designer. The interior industry is courting the Frenchwoman. But Inga Sempé likes to keep a low profile. Everything she needs for happiness: paper, pen and a game of tennis.
Product photos Ruché © Ligne Roset, portrait Inga Sempé © Claire Lavabre
The French designer RUCHÉ designed for Ligne Roset: the sofa and armchairs in the series immediately catch the eye with their unusual shape. The quilted fabric lies like a blanket over the fine, straight-lined wooden frame: rigor and softness skilfully come together here. Sempé was inspired by the classic porch swings, which are also particularly light. A little air and a little material can also be found in RUCHÉ.
RUCHÉ is available from Ligne Roset in the stilwerk Düsseldorf or Hamburg .
BRETZ: PAULINE JUNGLAS & CAROLIN KUTZERA
Female empowerment is lived at Bretz: Carolin Kutzera, daughter of company founder Norbert Bretz, now runs the furniture manufacturer together with Hartmut Bretz, Kutzera's uncle and co-founder of the family business. Previously, Kutzera was Bretz's creative director and designed real-life characters such as "Mathilda" and "Ohlinda." The newest member of the sofa team is "Poolside" - designed by the new head of creative team Pauline Junglas. In an interview with Schöner Wohnen, Junglas answered the question “What makes good design”:
Good design should make you happy! The objects must be consistent and able to tell their own story. There are an incredible number of expressions of good design.
Bretz's dream sofas do exactly that: they make you happy, tell your own story and open up fantastically sensual design worlds. For individualists and living free spirits.
"Ohlinda" by Carolin Kutzera, portrait Carolin Kutzera, sofa "Poolside" by Pauline Junglas, portrait Pauline Junglas, © Bretz
Available from Bretz in the stilwerk Düsseldorf and Hamburg .
KOLDOVA AND WILLMANN
Lucie Koldova and Hanne Willmann have more in common than just their gender: With “Celine” and “Nana”, both designers have designed very special armchairs for the Freifrau Manufaktur.
Hanne Willmann is considered the designer of the moment: in her Berlin studio she creates extraordinary furniture that appears clear, reduced and almost sculptural. "Nana" is one such design: soft, voluminous cloud fragments served as the inspiration for this incredibly cozy armchair.
Above: Nana from Freifrau and Hanne Willmann, © Freifrau
Below: Lucie Koldova, © Everbay / Celine for Freifrau, © Freifrau
From Prague to Paris and back again: Czech designer Lucie Koldova has done it and designs for brands like Lasvit, Brokis, Team 7 and Freifrau Manufaktur. She is best known for her unusual lighting designs made of glass, which she creates together with the Czech manufacturer Brokis. However, in recent years she has expanded her portfolio and also designs other pieces of furniture, including "Celine" for Freifrau and "Elliot" for Team 7. "Celine" - a delicate cocktail chair that is inspired by the fashion world and comes with an opulent drape . "Elliot" is a compact lounge chair that skilfully combines wood and fabric and offers its essential appearance for a cozy moment of rest.
“Nana” and “Celine” by Freifrau Manufaktur are available at lomann[s] by janua + freifrau in the stilwerk Düsseldorf. You can try out “Elliot” by Team 7 at Team 7 in the stilwerk Düsseldorf.
EVEN MORE STRONG DESIGNS FROM STRONG WOMEN
Image 1: Noa bed by Eva Harlou for Auping, © Auping, available from Auping in the stilwerk Hamburg
Image 2-4: Bun armchair by Federica Biasi for Wittmann, © Wittmann, available from Wittmann in concept:space in the stilwerk Hamburg
Image 5-7 Rabbit and Horse Lamp lights: FRONT for moooi, © moooi, available from lomann [ s ] interior design at stilwerk Düsseldorf
Image 8 lights from Clasetta, © Clasetta, available at concept:space in stilwerk Hamburg