Prominent Furniture Designers Who Identify as LGBTQ
Furniture design is a niche area of product design for the home and office environment. The profession attracts individuals with a range of artistic sensibilities, from simple and clean to flamboyant and eye-catching. LGBTQ individuals have a notable presence within the profession. After all, the popular expression 'coming out of the closet' itself combines the process of declaring one's sexual identity through a piece of furniture.
There are several questions that can be asked of LGBTQ furniture designers. Is there a unique LGBTQ design aesthetic for furniture? What does queer furniture look like, and what does it mean to make a room comfortable for someone who identifies as LGBTQ? Does sexual identity inform an individual's relationship to the objects that surround them? These are general questions that are difficult to answer specifically, but within the profession itself they are ones that the designer is always attempting to answer. It is the queer designer's desire to attract an audience and clientele for their artistic work, so the context is always in the product even though there may be no confirmed relationship between design and sexuality.
LGBTQ designers are closely related to the Interior Design profession and the fashion industry. Several prominent clothing designers have extended their influence to furniture design, notably France's Yves Saint Laurent. Transgender designer Sawyer DeVuyst has made a noteworthy mark in both his furniture and clothing designs. Prominent retail distributors of their furniture design include America's Mitchell Gold and Bob Williams, and Germany's Gero Furchheim of the Cairo chain of stores.
Britain's famed furniture designer Charles Robert Ashbee is considered the father of the Arts & Craft movement.
We have identified the following notable LGBTQ furniture designers. Simply click on their name to read more about them.
Austria
Canada
France
Germany
Great Britain
- Charles Robert Ashbee
- Martyn Lawrence Bullard
- Derek Frost
- Angela Gidden
- Arne Maynard
- Matthew Williamson
Ireland
United States
- Jack Calhoun
- Rafael de Cardenas
- Christopher Ciccone
- Sawyer DeVuyst
- Thom Filicia
- Mitchell Gold
- William Haines
- Jeffrey Alan Marks
- Olga Rechdouni
- Neal Ulrich
- Bob Williams
See Also
- LGBTQ Interior Designers
- LGBTQ Architects
- Creative Directors of Fashion Houses Who Are LGBTQ
- Expert LGBTQ Perfumers
- LGBTQ Participation in the Cosmetics and Makeup Industry
