Against all odds

With "Woman Made: Great Women Designers", author and architect Dr. Jane Hall has created an important reference work that presents the work of more than 200 female designers from over 50 countries. Each with a short vita and a significant example of their work, the publication impressively visualises the immense importance of female creatives for the development of design, which was systematically ignored and undervalued for decades due to a patriarchal world view.

With large-format illustrations and a clear layout, the examples are listed from A to Z, starting with the last name of the female designer. The focus is on furniture, lighting, textile, ceramic and household designs of the last century. The works can also be classified according to a timeline that lists the designers according to their year of birth, from 1877 to 1994. The selection ranges from today internationally renowned designers such as Jeannette Altherr, Cini Boeri, Florence Knoll or Ray Eames to more unknown names such as Lucie Rie, Marion Geller, Gegia Bronzini or Noémi Raymond. The works can also be classified according to a timeline that lists the designers according to their year of birth, from 1877 to 1994. The selection ranges from nowadays internationally known designers such as Jeannette Altherr, Cini Boeri, Florence Knoll or Ray Eames to more unknown names such as Lucie Rie, Marion Geller, Gegia Bronzini or Noémi Raymond. "Woman Made: Great Women Designers" impressively demonstrates the immense contribution of women designers to the design oeuvre as a whole and the pioneering works with which they have contributed to the development of product design in every epoch.

In parallel, Phaidon, in collaboration with the French fashion and accessories group Kering, offers the curated online platform "The Woman Made", inspired by the publication "Woman Made: Great Women Designers", which presents and supports the work of women designers. (am)