12 Women Transforming the World of Interior Design

International Women’s Day is 110 years old this year. Yet, over a century since more than a million people first celebrated the event across Europe, we find ourselves talking about subjects like diversity, inclusion and the glass ceiling in the workplaces of the world. This year’s official UN theme for International Women’s Day is Women in leadership: Achieving an equal future in a COVID-19 world. So, today, we’re celebrating the work of some of the most inspiring women in our own field of interior design. Here are 12 female leaders you’d better stop and recognise.

Alessandra Branca

Italian designer Alessandra Branca is commander-in-chief of everyday classicism in interior design. Her rich, opulent interiors ooze colour and craftsmanship. Her fabric, wallpaper and ceramics collections bring a vintage quality to her interiors and, yet, she’s not afraid to incorporate contemporary elements that lightly psychedelicise her designs.

Check out her Instagram: @abranca

Amy Lau 

Natural materials, warmth and an elegantly funky fascination with mid-century styling define the work of Arizona native Amy Lau. Educated at Sotheby’s Institute of Art, she honed her skills as design director for lauded 20^th century specialist Lin-Weinberg Gallery in New York and now creates magical interiors for some of the world’s most sophisticated homes.

Check out her Instagram: @amylaudesign

Charlotte Moss

Now over 35 years into an illustrious career, New York designer Charlotte Moss is a multiple award winner whose work takes a maximalistic Victoriana-like decorative approach, dotted with tasteful pattern clashes, opulent floral arrangements, grand ironwork and flowing fabrics. A leader in the field of textile design, her carpets, fabrics and pillow collections are a true feast for the eyes.

Check out her Instagram: @charmossny

India Mahdavi

Retro-futurist, mid-century fantasy worlds are the hallmark of amazing Parisian interior designer India Mahdavi, whose Matisse-like work almost defies categorisation or description. Drawn from the depths of her imagination, her explosively colourful designs marry geometric linearity with swirling textures to create playful homes that delight and inspire.

Check out her Instagram: @indiamahdavi

Joy Moyler

Joy Moyler’s clients include actors Leonardo DiCaprio and Adrien Brody, as well as Dead & Company singer John Mayer. Inspired by the ‘colours, textures, angles, light, allure, flavors and fragrance’ of Spain, her work oozes elegant masculinity and Joy marries rich wooden features with snazzy, duotone patterns and textures.

Check out her Instagram: @joymoylerinteriors

Kathryn M. Ireland

Malibu beach hippie vibes meet the light, romantic aesthetics and tones of Mediterranean style in ex-Million Dollar Decorators star Kathryn M. Ireland’s work. Elements of Japandi are introduced for simple, subtle tranquillity in the English designer’s interiors and her textile work is the stuff of legend for its sheer breadth of expertise.

Check out her Instagram: @kathrynmireland

Madeline Stuart

One of Los Angeles’ most beloved interior designers, Madeline Stuart is as treasured by the Hollywood entertainment industry as she is by her clients from the worlds of business and finance. Whilst her work runs the gamut of period influences, there’s absolutely a strong sense of California airiness and freshness to it. Liveable, functional, laidback and sumptuous.

Check out her Instagram: @madelinestuart

Mary McDonald

Bold, expansive juxtapositions of colour and patterns define the work of Hollywood multiple-award-winning designer Mary McDonald. Best known for her appearances on the TV show Million Dollar Decorators, Mary’s fabric, lighting, rug and furniture collections are lauded amongst her high-end clients, delivering timeless elegance to their homes.

Check out her Instagram: @marymcdonaldinc

Nicole Fuller

Subtly art deco inspired, and with just a hint of retrofuturism, the interiors of New York based designer Nicole Fuller belong firmly in the 2020s as a result of their unique, often startling collocations. Hard angles meet curvatures in ways that surprise the eye so that it darts around her ritzy, glam spaces.

Check out her Instagram: @nicolefullerinteriors

Rita Konig 

English country elegance is the order of the day in London-based designer Rita Konig’s work. Handcrafted elements, subtle juxtapositions of linear neatness with managed chaos and a love of natural light characterise her interiors. Her marbled paper lampshade collection demonstrates a playfulness that belies her classic style and her crockery collection is as refreshing as a cup of English breakfast tea.

Check out her Instagram: @ritakonig

Sasha Bikoff

Sasha Bikoff’s interiors fuse Studio 54 sass with a Miami Beach colour palette to deliver a wild, freethinking approach to interior design, the boundaries of which are only defined by her clients’ sense of edginess. Clashes of colours and patterns throw caution to the wind in a triumph of maximalism. And yet, you’ll find modernist linearity and Edwardian chic in there all at the same time. Truly unprecedented styling.

Check out her Instagram: @sashabikoff

Victoria Hagan Interiors

A true leader in the field of 21^st Century interior design, Victoria Hagan is described as ‘cerebral’ by the New York Times and her work, ‘the environmental equivalent of Katharine Hepburn,’ by the Architectural Digest. Steeped in the history of the discipline, yet with a firm eye on the contemporary, her work incorporates splashes of bold colour set amidst timelessly elegant fixtures and fittings.

Check out her Instagram: @victoriahaganinteriors

Happy International Women’s Day to all the incredible women working in the fields of architecture and interior design. If you’re looking for something else to read, check out our feature on the inspirational work of award-winning British designer Janey Butler.