Many female designers from the mid-century modern movement are more celebrated now than when they were producing work, says design historian Pat Kirkham in this interview for our mid-century modern series.
US designer Ray Eames, French designer Charlotte Perriand and architect Lina Bo Bardi are some of the women recognised today for their contributions to the mid-century modern movement, which spanned the mid-1940s to early 1970s.
Kirkham, a design history professor at Kingston University who has authored books on designers Charles and Ray Eames and 20th-century female designers in the US, argued that a revived interest in mid-century modernism has brought some of these women's names to the forefront of design again.
"There are still some architects who don't see them of value" She explained that although they gained commercial success with their designs in the decades after world war two, many of the designers faced adversity in the industry.
"There were many routes these women took to becoming what they were, and they didn't come without sacrifices and frustrations ? I think they're very empowering," Kirkham told Dezeen.
"The possibility that these women were really good and did some important work is not challenged as much now, but there are still some architects who don't see them of value, and equally, seeing areas that they hold as women's work, like interior design, as not as valid as other areas of design."
Ray Eames designed furniture ...