decorating
To mark International Women’s Day (8 March), we speak to three leaders of the British decorating scene about the creatives who inspire them, and reveal their female stars of the future
Minnie Kemp design director at Firmdale Hotels
Alongside her mother Kit Kemp, artist and interior designer Minnie Kemp has worked on hotels including London’s Ham Yard and The Whitby in New York, as well as spearheading the Kit Kemp Design Studio’s residential department. She has recently launched wallpapers with Mind The Gap, and said it was ‘a highlight in my career’ to work with its artists in Transylvania. Kemp looks to female creatives of the last century who fought to have a voice and be taken seriously. ‘I’m so inspired by Anni Albers and her teachings at Black Mountain College, as well as colour-theory queen Sonia Delaunay,’ she says.‘These women paved the way for female artists and designers working today. Es Devlin is a British artist and stage designer who I’m in awe of, too. Her kinetic, sculptural set designs look so simple, but such skill and hard work goes on behind the scenes to create the magic.’ The lesson Minnie takes from these boundarypushers is ‘to stay playful and experiment’.
With architects Stonehill Taylor, Minnie is currently installing The Warren Street Hotel in Tribeca, opening this spring. ‘We have worked on this project for five years, from the ground up, so it’s so exciting to see it all come together,’ she says, smiling. She is also designing a furniture collection with Schotten & Hansen and finishing a residential project on the French Riviera. ‘The house has been designed around an ancient fig tree, with views of the ocean.’ firmdalehotels.com; @minniekemp
My one to watch…
‘I came across Uruguayan design duo Estudio Persona in Milan last year, when I spotted their furniture collection created in collaboration with Pierre Frey. Emiliana Gonzalez and Jessie Young are a breath of fresh air.’ estudiopersona.com
Genevieve Bennett head of design at Liberty Interiors
Having spent her career collaborating with the likes of Wedgwood, Mulberry and Heal’s, Genevieve Bennett is unfazed by brands with weighty histories. It’s a quality that makes her the perfect custodian of Liberty’s legacy. She recently looked into its archives, and the globetrotting travels of founder Sir Arthur Lasenby Liberty, to create the ‘Botanical Atlas’ fabric c
