March is Women’s History Month: a time to celebrate women and challenge the barriers we still face today. According to Zippia: The Career Expert, women make up about 75% of the United States interior design industry but still tend to be paid less (female interior designers make an average of $55,179 per year compared to the $55,546 of their male counterparts). Additionally, men tend to be able to enter the industry at an age 7-8 years younger than women. And this is just for the interior design sector, the statistics are much starker for architects.

Needless to say, progress must still be made. As a female designer myself, this is something close to my heart. I have always been influenced by great women designers now and throughout history. Keep reading to learn about my favorite trailblazers: two historic women designers who inspire me every day.

Deborah Vivien Freeman-Mitford Cavendish: the Dowager Duchess of Devonshire

The Duchess of Devonshire is one of my favorite style setters, and where I draw a lot of my inspiration from. I’ve always admired English design, but the energy and spirit that Deborah attacked her designs with always inspire me.

Born to barons in 1920 and the youngest of six daughters, Deborah was deemed to live an extraordinary life. She married Lord Andrew Cavendish who became the 11th Duke of Devonshire upon his father’s death in 1950. Deborah quickly found herself the chatelaine of the extravagant 297 room Chatsworth house, which she had referred to as “a fabulous mess” following the two world wars. She wasted no time in bringing Chatsworth house back to life and into a major English historic site.

IMAGE FROM CHATSWORTHHOUSE.ORG

Chatsworth House is breathtaking, to say the least. It is the epitome of grand excellence, wealth, elegance, and beauty – all at the hands of the 11th Duchess of Devonshire. However, what Deborah did following her husband’s death in 2004 is where the real show is.

Deborah was instructed to move out of Chatsworth House upon her late husband’s passing, so that her son, the 12th Duke of Devonshire could take over Chatsworth House. Deborah moved into the Old Vicarage, an 8-bedroom country house less than a mile from Chatsworth. Once again, she wasted no time in using her magic to refurbish her new home and garden. Even in her 80s, she was working tirelessly to create a place to call home for the rest of her days. Seen planting rose bushes and turning each room into a unique celebration of the old and new, I consider her to be one of the original “grand millennial” style setters. She filled her home and garden with unique bespoke pieces and souvenirs, each with personal sentiment. The pictures alone speak for themselves.

Diana Vreeland: A Woman Who Refused to Apologize

Diana Vreeland is another one of my favorite women in history. Most known for her fashion authority and being the editor-in-chief for Vogue Magazine in the 60s and early 70s, she also had a passion for architecture and decorating. But perhaps the most remarkable part about her was the unapologetic passion and daring vision she brought to every project she worked on. In fact, it was this that brought her a certain amount of notoriety. It’s said that many of her employees would leave the office crying, when she wouldn’t take no for an answer and when she allowed her creativity to run with no bounds. I can’t help but wonder if she really was the “tyrant” that some tabloids enjoy making her out to be. When I look at her story, I see a woman who refused to be held by the barriers of her time, even if that meant being painted as a “monster.” She knew that she wanted to change fashion and make history, and that’s exactly what she did.

Her creativity wasn’t confined to just the magazines she worked on. Her New York Apartment is an ode to her eclectic vision and understanding of color. She once said, “I want my apartment to look like a garden: a garden in hell!” Her apartment is a wonderfully varied composition of bold colors and patterns. While most people may not describe wanting their home to bear any semblance to hell in any shape or form, it goes to show that Vreeland truly embodied the idea that her home and her art was for her and her only.

A Lesson in History

Today, women across all industries are still expected to apologize for being bold, accommodate the male ego, and follow the status quo. These two women bravely embodied their creativity to the fullest extent, despite what may have been expected of them. They were unapologetically bold in their vision, and that is the spirit that I want to carry with me throughout every project I work on.

To learn more about me and what I built with Kelley Astore Interiors, click here.