Ilse Crawford — Creative Director and Designer

Leah Spurrier — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 14:56:34 +0000

Now I’m not generally into hero-worship, but this lady is living a design dream completely of her own creation. At the risk of sounding a little James Lipton, her resumé bleeds competence and reeks of genius. She is the head of the Department of Man and Well-being at the Design Academy Eindhoven, author of two, very-relevant books on design and a regular keynote speaker at international events. She conceptualized the Soho House Brand, worked across Product Development and Regeneration as Vice President of Donna Karan Home and served as Creative Director of the Swarovski Crystal Palace, where she assembled a team of visionaries to reinvent the chandelier, showing in Paris, Milan and New York.

But before all of this, she was, perhaps most influential to those of us in the United States as the founding editor of Elle Decoration UK, where she boldly pushed the boundaries of object-driven design beyond anything seen before, and introduced the new wave of modernism we so enjoy today. In considering all of her accomplishments, ilse’s most revolutionary contribution to our world is the recipe blending design innovation with individual self expression, elevating lifestyle to a previously un-named level of spiritual evolution. She may have no equal in bringing such freeing ideas to a wider audience.

ilse Crawford has been named one of Great Britian’s 30 most influential women by Harper’s Bazaar in the “Power Issue”, for being “the person that defined the way we want to live”.

You may view the work of ilse Crawford at the site of her studio of Design and Art Direction: Studioilse, modern and emotional design at www.studioilse.com

ELLE DECORATION UK was incidentally, the most critical inspiration behind the creation of HighStreet and we’d like to thank ilse Crawford for her propelling light.

Thank you Ilse Crawford.

Leah Spurrier. HighStreet

HighStreet Blog. » “Power Issue”

Ilse Crawford — Creative Director and Designer