Phaidon and Kering have partnered on a coffee table book highlighting female designers in furniture, textile, product, and lighting design.
Dr. Jane Hall, a founding member of the architecture collective Assemble, was recruited by the publishing company and luxury conglomerate to author Woman Made: Great Women Designers, which compiles the work of over 200 women from more than 50 countries.
Readers will recognize design classics such as Ray Eames’s lounge chair, Charlotte Perriand’s Ombre chair, and Anna Casteelli Ferrieri’s Componibili storage unit, made for Kartell.
The volume also recognizes iconic women who are often overlooked as the other half of a design duo. In addition to Ray Eames (Charles Eames’s counterpart), there’s Susi Berger (Ueli Berger), Mette Hay (Rolf Hay), and Anni Albers (Josef Albers).
Dr. Hall’s collection of designs that emerged during the pandemic, which has seen an increased interest in furniture and home improvement, is a timely addition. Among the pieces on display are Monling Lee’s tennis ball-inspired Sport sofa, Garance Vallée’s wiggly Pudde table, and Utharaa Zacharias’ geometric Elio Lamp.
Woman Made is a followup to one of Phaidon’s best-selling books, Great Women Artists. While the latter focused on fine art, Woman Made focuses on the craft of design.
In addition to the book’s celebration of “feminine” design — a space that, as Dr. Hall demonstrates, does not conform to a single aesthetic — Kering and Phaidon will launch the Women In Motion Design Scholarship, which will award up to $25,000 to one female undergraduate studying product, furniture, textile, or lighting design at a university in the United States (applications will open in November).
