Women in Design: Confronting the Glass Ceiling

Arlene Hirst -- Interior Design, 1/1/2013 2:00:00 AM

Kelly Wearstler’s home in Beverly Hills, CA, includes a strorage wall with this dramatic brass hardware.

See a timeline of landmark moments for women in design.

As with almost all professions, women in the universe of design have historically struggled to find a place at the table. The American Institute of Architects counted 83,000 members at the end of 2012, yet only 18 percent are women. In contrast, according to Interior Design's recent Universe Study, of the 87,000 interior designers in the United States, a whopping 69 percent are women. Ladies, it seems, are taking the lead in the field of interiors. And that's not news.

Click above to see today's movers and shakers.

As any design buff will tell you, the U.S.'s first interior designer by profession was a woman, the legendary Elsie De Wolfe, who was closely followed by Elsie Cobb Wilson, Ruby Ross Wood, Rose Cumming, Eleanor Brown and Frances Elkins. These women collectively play an enduring role in design history.

And while Zaha Hadid leaps to mind as a rare female "starchitect," the field of interiors has been blessed with a bounty of female marquee names: Clodagh, Barbara Barry, Lauren Rottet and Kelly Wearstler have made waves, not to mention Mariette Himes Gomez, Alexa Hampton, Suzanne Kasler, Eva Maddox, Victoria Hagan and Suzanne Rheinstein. The list is nearly endless. 

Yet determining why women have been able to achieve a marked edge in interiors is a pandora's box of social and cultural standards. In the early 20th century, it was considered improper for women to work. Judith Gura, an author and professor at the New York School of Interior Design, explains that "decorating" was the one career field deemed socially acceptable. Interior design, adds Gura, also allows women to take off from their careers off to raise families and is a relatively easy field to enter. Until the licensing of interior designers becomes universal, she adds, anyone can print a business card.

Gura has noted, however, that designing interiors was considered frivolous until men returned from World War II and entered the profession in larger numbers, deeming it "serious" and lucrative. And although men are still outnumbered by more than two to one, today the majority of A-list firms are run by men. Even though women dominate the field in numbers, they still face complex prejudices.

Yet, says designer Barbara Barry, "I have never felt the glass ceiling. As a woman I feel uniquely suited for design centered around the home." View the slideshows above for a closer look at the impact of women designers throughout history and profiles of some whose contributions to contemporary discourse defy categorization.

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