The Wallpaper* USA 400 celebrates Creative America in all its dazzling breadth and diversity. Our snapshot of the people who are shaping the United States’ creative landscape in 2024 spans design business leaders, community builders, tastemakers, gastro greats and the new guard, taking in celebrity shapeshifters and those defining the aesthetics of popular culture along the way.
Here are the names to know in America now…
Wallpaper* USA 400: a guide to Creative America in 2024
Entrepreneurs and CEOs at the helm of the country’s leading design companies, from globally renowned furniture giants to small brands making waves in the design world.
LINDSEY ADELMAN
Founder, Lindsey Adelman Studio
CHARLES BRILL, THEO RICHARDSON, AND ALEX WILLIAMS
Founders, RBW Studio
GREGG BUCHBINDER
Owner and CEO, Emeco
DAVE DAWSON
Founder, The Urban Electric Co
JANICE FELDMAN
Founder, Janus et Cie
GARY FRIEDMAN
CEO and chairman, RH
SIAMAK HAKAKIAN
Partner, DDC
MATTHEW HAWORTH
Chairman, Haworth Inc
TYLER HAYS
Founder, BDDW
JERRY HELLING
President and creative director, Bernhardt Design
GABRIEL HENDIFAR
Artistic director and CEO, Apparatus
HOLLY HUNT
Founder, House of Hunt
NARGIS AND NASIR KASSAMALI
Founders, Luminaire
SUSAN LYONS
President, Designtex
TONY MANZARI
Maharam president
JASON MILLER
Designer and founder, Roll & Hill
MARY MURPHY
Senior vice president of design, Edelman, Knoll Textiles and Maharam
JENNIFER NYE
Chief marketing & creative officer at Momentum Textiles & Wallcovering
JOHANNES PAUWEN & MICHAELE SIMMERING
Founders of sustainable US furniture brand Kalon
CRAIG ROBINS
CEO and president, Dacra
JON SHERMAN
Founder, owner, creative director, Flavor Paper
BEN WATSON
President, Herman Miller, and chief product officer, Miller Knoll
ELAD YIFRACH
Founder and creative director, L’Objet
The creatives who have infiltrated the world of show business: architects and designers contributing to the aesthetics of popular culture, from cinema and theatre to museums.
JESS CUEVAS
Artist and creative director whose portfolio includes the artwork for Madonna’s Celebration tour
STEPHEN GALLOWAY
Creative movement director, choreographer
JEANNE GANG
Architect, founder of Studio Gang, behind the American Museum of Natural History extension
JULIO HIMEDE
Founder of design firm Yellow Studio, creating sets for Eurovision and the Grammys
JOHN HOKE
Chief design officer, Nike
JAMES KALIARDOS
Make-up artist, founder of Visionaire
DAVID KORINS
Creative director and designer of sets for theatre, television, film, concerts and the Oscars (Korins was also a 2019 Wallpaper* Design Awards judge)
SHIRLEY KURATA
Costume designer and stylist
MEL OTTENBERG
Editor-in-chief, Interview
PIOTREK PANSZCZYK AND BECKETT FOGG
Founders of fashion brand Area
SCOTT PASK
Broadway and off-Broadway scenic and costume designer
WILLO PERRON
Canadian-born designer known for his collaborations with Rihanna
HERON PRESTON
Artist, fashion designer, DJ
DAVID ROCKWELL
Architect and designer, creator of sets for Oscars ceremonies and Broadway shows
GUCCI WESTMAN
Make-up artist, founder of Westman Atelier
Hailing from the realms of music and cinema, these stars’ creative excellence and entrepreneurship capably stretches to jewellery, fashion, art and more.
WES ANDERSON
Filmmaker (see our behind-the-scenes of Asteroid City ), art exhibition curator
AQUARIA
Drag performer and DJ
BEYONCÉ
Grammy-winning artist, founder of Cécred haircare line and Ivy Park athleisure brand
SOFIA COPPOLA
Film director and screenwriter, serial creative collaborator, including a collection with knitwear brand Barrie and a range of lip balms with Augustinus Bader
DR DRE
DJ, music producer, founder of Beats by Dre
DONALD GLOVER
Actor, comedian, rapper, singer, writer, director, and producer known as Childish Gambino
EMMA GREDE
Founding partner of loungewear label Skims
LADY GAGA
Singer, actress, founder of cosmetics brand Haus Labs
SPIKE LEE
Filmmaker, actor, educator
JULIANNE MOORE
Actress, design collector, former Wallpaper* Design Awards judge
RYAN MURPHY
Television writer, director, producer, design enthusiast, owner of many architectural gems
FRANK OCEAN
Artist and founder of jewellery design brand Homer
MARY-KATE AND ASHLEY OLSEN
Founders of fashion label The Row
BRAD PITT
Actor, sculptor
RIHANNA
Singer, founder of LVMH-owned inclusive cosmetics brand Fenty Beauty
SETH ROGEN
Actor, ceramicist, co-founder of cannabis lifestyle brand Houseplant
TYLER THE CREATOR
Rapper, singer, record producer, and fashion designer
PHARRELL WILLIAMS
Record producer, rapper, singer, with fashion and design collaborations with Louis Vuitton, Moncler, Adidas and Pentatonic
Interior designers, fashion designers and artists, whose collaborators have included the White House and its residents, with commissions that range from interior refits to presidential portraits.
SHEILA BRIDGES
Interior designer, founder of Sheila Bridges Design Inc, designed former president Bill Clinton's offices as well as US Vice President Kamala Harris’ official residence
GABRIELA HEARST
Fashion designer behind Dr Jill Biden’s inauguration evening dress
CHRISTOPHER JOHN ROGERS
Fashion designer behind Vice President Kamala Harris’ inauguration outfit
AMY SHERALD
Artist, painter of Michelle Obama portrait
MICHAEL S SMITH
Former White House interior designer responsible for Oval Office redesign in 2010
KEHINDE WILEY
Artist, painter of Barack Obama portrait
TOD WILLIAMS AND BILLIE TSIEN
Architects of the Obama Presidential Center
JASON WU
Fashion designer behind dress worn by Michelle Obama in her portrait by artist Sharon Sprung
The curators preserving and promoting creative culture, from heirs enthusiastically promoting the family’s artistic legacy to new-generation curators of the country’s leading institutions.
PAOLA ANTONELLI
Senior curator of architecture and design, Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York, and a Wallpaper* October 2020 Guest Editor
AMY AUSCHERMAN
Director of Archives and Brand Heritage, MillerKnoll
SPENCER BAILEY
Co-founder of media company The Slowdown
ABBY BANGSER
Founder and creative director, Object & Thing
ANDREW BOLTON
Head curator, Anna Wintour Costume Center, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
ANNA CARNICK
Co-founder of Anava Projects, a creative agency driven by a strong belief that good design can and should make a positive social impact
WAVA CARPENTER
Co-founder of Anava Projects, a creative agency driven by a strong belief that good design can and should make a positive social impact
TREVOR CHENEY
Founder of Seventh House Gallery and Trevor Cheney Gallery, both in LA
ALEXANDRA CUNNINGHAM CAMERON
Curator of contemporary design, Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
DURK DEHNER
Co-founder and president, Tom of Finland Foundation
JEFFREY DEITCH
Art dealer and curator
HOLLAND DENVIR
Founder of LA Design Weekend
EAMES DEMETRIOS
Board chairman, Eames Foundation
EXHIBIT COLUMBUS
A showcase blending community and international design discourse following on the architectural legacy of Columbus, Indiana
BEATRICE GALILEE
Co-founder and executive director, The World Around
THELMA GOLDEN
Director and chief curator, The Studio Museum, New York
STUART GRAFF
President and CEO, Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation
EILEEN HARRIS NORTONCollector and philanthropist
CODY HARTLEY
Director, Georgia O’Keeffe Museum
NICOLA LEES
CEO and artistic director, Aspen Art Museum
HILARY LEWIS
Chief curator and creative director, The Glass House
MARK MASIELLO
Form Portfolios’ founder and CEO
ALEXANDER MAY
Creative consultant and curator, founder of Sized
JIM MCDOWELL
Ceramic artist
MARIAH NIELSON
Director, JB Blunk Estate and Blunk Space
EILEEN NORTON
Collector, philanthropist, co-founder of Art + Practice, has championed underrepresented artists since the 1980s
JONATHAN OLIVARES
SVP of design, Knoll
ALES ORTUZAR
Art dealer, founder of Tribeca gallery Ortuzar Projects
REBECCA RABINOW
Director of The Menil Collection, Texas
ALICE SACHS ZIMET
President of Arts + Business Partners and chair of Acquisitions Committee at International Centre for Photography
AMY SALL
Writer and founding editor of SUNU: Journal of African Affairs, Critical Thought + Aesthetics
ANTWAUN SARGENT
Director, Gagosian New York
JONATHAN SQUARE
Historian and curator of Afro-diasporic visual culture
The ‘no introduction needed’ of creative America: the artists, architects and designers who have helped shape the landscape.
DOUG AITKEN
Artist (and a 2022 Wallpaper* Design Awards Judge)
JULIE BARGMANN
Landscape architect, educator, founder of DIRT (Dump It Right There)
THOM BROWNE
Fashion designer, founder of Thom Browne
TORY BURCH
Fashion designer
NICK CAVE
‘Artist, educator and messenger’, known for his fantastical Soundsuits and works that create space for the marginalised
GRAYDON CARTER
Founder and co-editor, Air Mail
JUDY CHICAGO
Artist, feminist icon
ELIZABETH DILLER, RICARDO SCOFIDIO AND CHARLES RENFRO
Architects, founders of Diller Scofidio + Renfro
JENNY HOLZER
Artist
INEZ & VINOODHPhotographers, behind Wallpaper’s portfolio of 50 of America's top creatives driving the current discourse on American culture and its dynamic evolution
JULIEN D’YS
Hair stylist
TOM FORD
Fashion designer
BERNARDO FORT-BRESCIA AND LAURINDA HOPE SPEAR
Founders of Arquitectonica, a 20th-century trailblazer with a Miami twist; pretty much any way you look in the city, there’s an Arquitectonica building
FRANK GEHRY
Architect
JEFFREY GIBSON
Artist. His US Pavilion at the 60th Venice Art Biennale was the country’s first solo presentation by an Indigenous artist at the event
FRITZ HAEG
Artist, owner of Salmon Creek Farm
STEVEN HOLLArchitect
MARC JACOBS
Fashion designer
JASPER JOHNS
Artist
SETH KAPLOWITZ
Lawyer to A&D businesses and entrepreneurs
JEFF KOONS
Artist
RALPH LAUREN
Fashion designer
DANIEL LIBESKIND
Architect
MATTHEW MALIN AND ANDREW GOETZ
Founders of skincare brand Malin + Goetz
THOM MAYNE
Architect
MARILYN MINTER
Artist
MURRAY MOSS
Founder of design gallery Moss and design consultancy Moss Bureau
PAUL MPAGI SEPUYA
Photographer (see his portraits of Stephen Galloway for our August 2023 issue)
Fashion designer
RALPH PUCCI
Founder of Ralph Pucci
MICHAEL E REYNOLDS
Earthship founder
ED RUSCHA
Artist
KATHY RYAN
photography director and photographer
CINDY SHERMAN
Artist
SKIDMORE, OWINGS & MERRILL
Heavyweight architectural practice pioneering modernism and sustainability
JON STEINBERG
CEO, Future PLC
ROSE-MARIE SWIFT
Founder of RMS Beauty
JAMES TURRELL
Artist, pioneer of Light and Space movement
EDWINA VON GAL
Landscape designer that focuses on sustainable land management
JOHN WATERS
Filmmaker, writer, actor, artist
TAKAKO YAMAGUCHI
Artist
Setting the creative agenda, from interior design and architecture to fashion and jewellery, these are the influencers behind some of the country’s most noteworthy projects, from buildings to jewellery.
ROMAN ALONSO AND STEVEN JOHANKNECHT
Founders of multidisciplinary studio Commune Design
MALEK ALQADI
Architect and designer
MARWAN AL SAYED AND MIES ANDERSON
Founders of Masastudio, best known for their work on Amangiri Resort + Spa, Utah
AMALE ANDRAOS AND DAN WOOD
Co-founders of architecture practice Work AC
INI ARCHIBONG
American-Nigerian designer whose furniture and lighting work is guided by heritage and spirituality
DANIEL ARSHAM AND ALEX MUSTONEN
Founders of design studio Snarkitecture
CATHERINE BAILEY & ROBIN PETRAVIC
Owners of Heath Ceramics, the tableware and tile company.
ELLIOTT BARNES
Interior designer who honed his craft with Andrée Putman before setting up on his own
CRAIG BASSAM AND SCOTT FELLOWS
Founders of lifestyle brand Bassam Fellows
STEPHANIE BEAMER, CRYSTAL ELLIS AND HILLARY PETRIE
Founders of furniture design studio Egg Collective
STEFAN BECKMAN
The fashion industry’s favourite set designer
KELLY BEHUN
Interior designer behind California home of Alicia Keys and Swizz Beatz
BENJAMIN BLOOMSTEIN AND AARON AUJLA
Artists, designers, founders of design studio Green River Project, whose work includes meticulously crafted furniture and interiors for fashion label Bode
LOUISE BONNET
Painter whose large-scale works in oil touch on multiple themes ranging from sex and beauty to tension and humour
MIRANDA BROOKS
Landscape designer
STEPHEN BURKS
A designer who has collaborated with the likes of Dedon and Berea College, bringing the hand to industry and always advocating for diversity in design
RUBEN CALDWELL, JOU-YIE CHOU AND LEIGH SALEM
Founders of interior design studio Post Company, whose projects include Catskills wellness resort Inness and New York restaurant Raf’s
ERAN CHEN
Founder and executive director of architecture studio ODA NY
JOHN DERIAN
Designer, founder of Decoupage
DAN COLEN
Artist whose experiments with everyday objects include hyperrealist paintings of J Crew catalogue pages and curtains made from crack pipes
BILLY COTTON
Designer with a multi-scaled approach, working in furniture and product as well as eclectic spaces
JONATHAN CROSS
Ceramicist whose work is created using ancient wood-firing techniques
DYLAN DAVIS & JEAN LEE
Designers, L&G Studio
GRAY DAVIS & WILL MEYER
Founders of the eponymous multidisciplinary design studio
MATTHEW DAY JACKSON
Artist-designer whose process is deeply rooted in research and experimentation
RAFAEL DE CÁRDENAS
Designer who has concocted visions of modern elegance for clients such as Cartier, Nike and Glossier
DESIGN BITCHES
Architecture studio founded by Rebecca Rudolph and Catherine Johnson
LISA EISNER
Photographer-turned-jewellery designer
IDIT & MOTI FERDER
Founders of Lugano Diamonds
KEN FULK
Interior designer and hotelier, owner of The Paramour Estate in LA
NICOLE FULLER
Interior designer
CHRISTINE & JOHN GACHOT
Interior designers behind projects such as the Shinola Hotel in Detroit and cosmetics brand Glossier’s debut New York flagship store
DANIEL GERMANI
Multidisciplinary designer and founder of the eponymous Arizona-based studio
JONATHAN GLATT & SARA OSSANA
Founders of O & G Studio
RENE GONZALEZ
Architect
ROGAN GREGORY
Designer of sculptural pieces, represented by R & Company
SIMON AND NIKOLAI HAAS
Artist twins behind design studio Haas Brothers
JACQUELINE AND DAMIEN HARRISON
Founders of landscape design studio Harrison Green
OLIVER HASLEGRAVE
Founder of interior architecture and design firm Home Studios
ROBERT HIGHSMITH, RYAN MAHONEY AND STEFANIE BRECHBUEHLER
Founders of design studio Workstead
ERIC HOFFMAN
Founder of Hoffman Creative, creating designs for Pamela Shamshiri, Steven Volpe and more
JOHN HOGAN
Glass designer
NICOLE HOLLIS
Interior designer behind Hawaii’s Kailua-Kona resort
FLORIAN IDENBURG AND JING LIU
Founders of architecture studio SO-IL, known for its unconventional and beautifully ethereal creations
RASHID JOHNSON
Artist
SHARON JOHNSTON AND MARK LEE
Founders of architecture firm Johnston Marklee
GULLA JONSDOTTIR
Icelandic-born, LA-based designer behind the Thompson hotel in Miami
DANU KENNEDY & JEREMY LEVITT
Designers, founders of Parts and Labor Design Studio
NUR KHAN
Restaurateur
ANA KHOURI
Jewellery designer with a background in sculpture and fine arts
AMY LAU
Interior designer who focuses on creating warm and thoughtful living spaces
LITTLE WING LEE
Interior designer, founder of Studio & Projects
HUMBERTO LEON
Fashion designer and restaurateur
LEONG LEONG
Architects and brothers, Dominic and Chris Leong
PHILLIP LIM
Fashion designer
NILI LOTAN
Fashion designer
MICHAEL MALTZAN
Architect whose work spans everything from housing for the homeless to glitzy museums
PETER MARINO
Interior designer for high-end fashion boutiques, including latest Tiffany store in New York
LEO MARMOL AND RON RADZINER
Founders of architecture firm Marmol Radziner
JANE MAYLE
Fashion designer, founder of Maison Mayle
JACK MCCOLLOUGH AND LAZARO HERNANDEZ
Founders of fashion label Proenza Schouler
ANDRE MELLONE
Founder of Studio Mellone, whose work includes interiors for the likes of Jason Wu and Thom Browne
ALEXANDRA AND MICHAEL MISCZYNSKI
Founders of interior design studio Atelier AM
PAUL MIGNOGNA
Designer and the founder of Stillmade
MONTALBA ARCHITECTS
Experts in contemporary residential living
TED MUEHLING
Industrial designer who creates jewellery and decorative objects inspired by organic forms
HARRY NURIEV
Founder of Crosby Studios, creating immersive design installations
JIM OLSON AND TOM KUNDIG
Founders of architecture firm Olson Kundig
KELLEY PERUMBETI & MICHAEL YARINSKY
Founders of Office of Tangible Space
ELENI PETALOTI AND LEONIDAS TRAMPOUKIS
Founders of design studio Objects of Common Interest (former Wallpaper* Design Awards winners and judges)
JOSHUA RAMUS
Founder of architecture and design studio Rex
SUCHI REDDY
Founder of architecture and design firm Reddymade
MALLERY ROBERTS MORGAN
Founder of MRM Studio, interior designer, style czarina, design critic and journalist, author of our Stephen Galloway profile
OZA SABBETH
The studio of architects Nilay Ozza and Peter Sabbeth
VICTORIA SAMBUNARIS
Landscape photographer
FERNANDO SANTANGELO
Uruguayan-born, New York-based designer behind the Nine Orchard hotel in New York
BRIAN SAWYER AND JOHN BERSON
Founders of interdisciplinary firm Sawyer Berson
ANNABELLE SELLDORF
Founder of Selldorf Architects
PAMELA SHAMSHIRI
Founder of Studio Shamshiri, has designed homes for musician Paul McCartney and actor Anne Hathaway, and was a Wallpaper* Design Awards 2023 judge
GABRIELLE SHELTON
Sculptor and designer, co-founder of Shelton Studios metal fabrication studio
ADAM SILVERMAN
Sculptor
ROBIN STANDEFER AND STEPHEN ALESCH
Founders of interior design studio Roman and Williams
LENNY STEINBERG
Designer guided by principles of space, time and energy
ROBERT STILIN
Interior designer that mixes contemporary architecture with textured materials and vintage furniture
MAX STRANG
Prolific Miami architect who brings tropical modern to the 21st century
CHRISTOPHER STRINGER & ELIZABETH PAIGE SMITH
Product designer and artist and designer, respectively, who also develop stunning environments together. Stringer is the founder of audio company Syng, while Smith is readying to show a sculptural body of artwork in LA
ADA TOLLA AND GIUSEPPE LIGNANO
Founders of architecture studio Lot-Ek, whose client list includes the Guggenheim and Google
GIANCARLO VALLE
Interior designer
STEVEN VOLPE
Founder of Studio Volpe, whose work includes elegant residences from Manhattan to LA, as well as Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop Mrkt in San Francisco
KELLY WEARSTLER
Interior designer for the hotel industry, residential, commercial, retail and hospitality spaces
THADDEUS WOLFE
Glass artist sculptor, represented by Friedman Benda
JORDAN WOLFSON
Multimedia artist who uses tools such as CGI, animatronics and VR, manipulated to interrogate our relationship with technology and the media
BRETT WOODS AND JOSEPH DANGARAN
Founders of architecture firm Woods + Dangaran and devotees of midcentury modernism (their Desert Palisades house won Best Private House in the Wallpaper* Design Awards 2023)
THOMAS WRIGHT AND JOSEPH FRATESI
Founders of multidisciplinary design and manufacturing firm Atlas Industries
KULAPAT YANTRASAST
Founder and creative director of Why Architects, the go-to design studio for museums
Leaders of design research, start-uppers and business leaders whose creative brilliance is paired with a strong focus on technology and sustainability.
VANESSA BARBONI HALLIK
Founder and CEO of sustainable fashion brand Another Tomorrow
GERMANE BARNES
Architect researching architecture’s social and political influence
YVES BEHAR
Founder and principal designer of Fuseproject, a brand development firm working across industrial design, transport and technology
DAVID BELT
Co-founder and executive chairman of Newlab
Founder of ethics-based architecture practice Ten Berke
MONA CHALABI
Visual data journalist
TIM COOK
CEO, Apple
JAMES CORNER
Landscape architect, theorist, founder of Field Operations, whose work on New York’s High Line helped champion urban green spaces for all
JOE GEBBIA
Co-founder of Airbnb and chairman of Airbnb.org
TYLER HOBBS
Generative artist, creative coder, painter
JONY IVE
Former chief design officer at Apple, founder of design studio LoveFrom
GIORGIA LUPI
Data designer, Pentagram partner
BRIAN OAKES
Artist who uses circuit boards as a canvas to give life to ‘creatures’ that often present a structure for random sampling and recording
KATE ORFF
Founder of landscape architecture and urban design practice Scape
NERI OXMAN
Designer and professor at MIT Media Lab
CHRIS PRICE
Founder of Klima Architecture, working primarily in mountain and desert environments with an ecological ethos
IVY ROSS
Vice president of hardware design, Google
RJ SCARINGE
Founder and CEO of electric vehicle manufacturer Rivian
JULIA WATSON
Designer, activist, academic, leading expert of Lo–TEK (nature-based technologies for climate resilience)
JASON WHITE
Multidisciplinary scientist bridging the gap between science and creativity, dedicated to the exploration of micro-organisms and biotechnologies in society
ZGF
Established architecture practice with a strong emphasis on sustainability
Owners of small boutique hotels and behemoths whose properties stretch beyond the US: the names to know in American hospitality today.
NADIM ASHI
Properties include the Four Seasons at The Surf Club in Florida
ANDRÉ BALAZS
Properties include Chateau Marmont in LA, The Chiltern Firehouse in London and Sunset Beach on Shelter Island
JON BLANCHARD
Founder and CEO of BLVD Hospitality, properties include The Georgian in Santa Monica
ERIC GOODE
Properties include The Bowery, The Jane and Waverly Inn, founder of the Turtle Conservancy
BRAD KORZEN
Founder and CEO, The Kor Group and Proper Hotels
LIZ LAMBERT
Founder and chief creative officer of her hotel group Bunkhouse
ALEX OHEBSHALOM
Founder of Fifth Avenue Hotel
ANDREW RIFKIN
Properties include Nine Orchard in New York
OLIVER RIPLEY
Chief executive officer & co-founder, Our Habitas, a luxury hospitality management group
ABY ROSEN
Property developer, co-founder RFR Holding
IAN SCHRAGER
Properties include Public New York, Edition hotels in New York and Miami
BARRY STERNLICHT
Chairman of SH Hotels & Resorts, which has 1 Hotels Baccarat and Treehouse Hotels in its portfolio
HOMI VAZIFDAR
Founder of Canyon Equity, whose portfolio includes Amangiri and Six Senses Costa Rica
BRAD WILSON
CEO, Ace Hotel Group
ANDREW ZOBLER
Founder and CEO of the Sydell Group, a collection of lifestyle hotels rooted in their location and architecture
Musicians, filmmakers and sound artists, multidisciplinary creatives telling stories and working beyond objects and places.
ERYKAH BADU
Singer, songwriter, record producer, actor
KYLE BELL
Filmmaker from Thlopthlocco Creek tribal town in Oklahoma, protégé of Spike Lee in the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative 2022
JOHN CALE
Musician, composer, record producer, founding member of rock band The Velvet Underground
LISA CORTÉS
Film director and producer whose work, from Oscar-winning film Precious to Little Richard: I am Everything, highlights social issues from the point of view of an always-relatable character
PHILIP GLASS
Minimalist composer, pianist
KIM GORDON
Visual artist, bassist, guitarist, songwriter, vocalist, now as a solo artist and formerly for alternative rock band Sonic Youth.
LIL NAS X
Rapper, singer, songwriter
DANIEL LOPATIN (ONEOHTRIX POINT NEVER)
Experimental electronic music producer, composer, singer, songwriter
KELSEY LU
Singer, cellist
DAVID LYNCH
Filmmaker, visual artist, actor, and, with his cinematic installation A Thinking Room, a star of Salone del Mobile 2024.
SHABOOZEY
American singer-songwriter, record producer and filmmaker
PATTI SMITH
Singer, songwriter, poet, painter, author
ST VINCENT
Grammy award winning artist, musician, songwriter with signature guitar line
CHRISTINE SUN KIM
Deaf sound artist working predominantly in drawing, performance and video, using musical notation, written language, American Sign Language, and the body
RUFUS WAINWRIGHT
Singer, songwriter, composer
ROBERT WILSON
Theatre director, visual artist
Personalities working in a variety of fields, using art and design as a tool to raise awareness and amplify the voices of the oppressed.
DERRICK ADAMS
Visual and performance artist, curator, work focuses on themes of Black identity and culture
LEILAH BABIRYE
NYC-based sculptor Babirye uses her work to respond to the anti-homosexuality legislation that has been recently passed in her home country, Uganda
EMILY BARKER
Multidisciplinary artist, activist, work focuses on topics relating to disability, discrimination and capitalism
QUANNAH ROSE CHASINGHORSE-POTTS
Model, Indigenous activist
Model, Indigenous activist
DANIEL CHEW, TEN IZU, KIRSTEN KILPONEN AND TIN NGUYEN
Members of Concept Foreign Garments New York (CFGNY), a fashion and art collective exploring what it means to be ‘vaguely Asian’
NAN GOLDIN
Photographer, activist
ARTHUR JAFA
Artist and cinematographer, winner of the Venice Golden Lion in 2019, who also creates memorable visuals for music videos, including for Jay-Z, Solange, and Kanye West
JOSH KLINE
Artist, curator, explores how emergent technologies are changing our lives
PHILIP LIM
Fashion designer, fundraiser for Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community
INDYA MOORE
Actor, model and social activist
CATHERINE OPIE
Fine-art photographer, educator
MICKALENE THOMAS
Visual artist, studies the Black female body as a vehicle of power, eroticism, agency and inspiration
DEANNA VAN BUREN
Co-founder and design director of nonprofit architecture and real estate development firm Designing Justice + Designing Spaces, working to end mass incarceration through place-based solutions
Artists, collectives and restaurateurs who have brought global flavours to the US, using food as a creative medium to connect people
PIERCE ABERNATHY
Recipe developer, chef and model
ANDY BARAGHANI
Chef, draws inspiration from Iranian upbringing, James Beard award winner 2023
RICHARD CHRISTIANSEN
Founder of Flamingo Estate, a home and garden brand that champions botanical wellness
CLARE CRESPO
Artist, author and fantasist; Crespo has designed tableware, starred in and produced her own cooking show and written cookbooks for children
LEANN DARLAND & TARA HANKINSON
Founders of TALEA Beer Co
CALVIN ENG
Founder/chef at Bonnie’s in Brooklyn, serving Cantonese-American cuisine inspired by memories of his mother’s cooking
NIKI RUSS FEDERMAN AND JOSH RUSS TUPPER
Owners of fourth-generation New York culinary institution Russ & Daughters
DEVONN FRANCIS
Queer first-generation Jamaican-American artist exploring his heritage and culture through art and food
LAILA GOHAR
Artist working with food as a creative medium
JON GRAY
CEO and co-founder of Ghetto Gastro, culinary collective from the South Bronx, and a Wallpaper* Design Awards 2022 judge
JORDAN KAHN
Chef and creative director, with a penchant for expressionist desserts, and three Culver City restaurants (Destroyer, Meteora and Vespertine) offering deliciously avant-garde dining experiences
SIMON KIM
Restaurateur, co-owner of COTE Korean Steakhouse
IGNACIO MATTOS
Founder/chef of Mattos Hospitality, comprising restaurants Estela, Altro Paradiso and Lodi
KEITH MCNALLY
Restaurateur, owner of several New York restaurants including Balthazar
JOHNNY ORTIZ-CONCHA & MAIDA BRANCH
Artists and chefs, founders of Shed
LEXIE PARK
Founder of Eatnunchi, multidimensional artist, creator of jelly cakes
JP AND ELLIA PARK
Co-founders of New York restaurants Atomix and Naro, inspired by Korean culinary traditions
WOLDY REYES
Founder/chef of boutique Brooklyn catering company Woldy Kusina, inspired by his Filipino roots
MARCUS SAMUELSSON
Ethiopian-born Swedish-American celebrity chef, restaurateur, television personality
JON SHOOK & VINNY DOTOLO
James Beard award-winning chefs and restaurateurs, also behind an organic wine shop sommelier Helen Johannesen, and owners of microgrocery Cookbook Market
RITA SODI AND JODY WILLIAMS
Founders/chefs of The Commerce Inn
Designers and artists whose practice has become the basis for a larger scope, serving local networks and connecting people.
BETHEL ABATE
Design director of Mass Design Group, which researches, builds and advocates for architecture that promotes justice and human dignity
JENNIFER NEWSOM CARRUTHERS AND TOM CARRUTHERS
Founders of unconventional studio Dream the Combine, which creates site-specific installations at the intersection of art and architecture
WILLY CHAVARRIA
Fashion designer, explores and amplifies the Latino voice
SHANE DAVIS
Co-founder and creative director of Public Records, a multi-faceted music, social and exhibition space for the community, and co-founder of new design studio for worldwide hospitality/residential projects, Public Service
PETER DO
Fashion designer, brand is rooted in community and dedicated to supporting New York’s garment district
MATT DUCKLO
Photographer, founder and proprietor of Tops Gallery, representing self-taught and contemporary artists from the American South
JULIA GAMOLINA
Founder of Madame Architect, an online magazine celebrating women transforming the architecture and design industry
THEASTER GATES
Artist, revitalising Chicago’s South Side neighbourhood through creative projects
RITESH GUPTA
Founder of Useful School, a virtual learning platform that puts people of colour front and centre
LAUREN HALSEY
Artist, employs architecture and installation art to reveal the realities of urban neighbourhoods
TAMARA HOUSTON
Author, entertainment producer, founder of heritage development enterprise Icon Mann, managing partner of a mobile design and educational installation, the Pavilion of the African Diaspora (PoAD), which she curated alongside Ini Archibong
YOUNG HUH AND JESSICA DAVIS
Interior designers, founders of AAPIDA (Asian American Pacific Islander Design Alliance)
RAUL LOPEZ
Founder of fashion brand Luar
RICK LOWE
Artist, champions people and communities through social practice-based art projects
ALEXIS SABLONE
Designer and artist with architecture training but also Olympic skateboarder
SCOTT STEELE
Provost of Berea College, the first interracial and co-educational college in the American South, whose Student Craft programme is based on a mission of preserving traditional craft techniques while celebrating student diversity
NORMAN TEAGUE
Designer, maker, educator, focuses on connecting with local communities
SHEENA ZADEH-DALY
Founder of beauty brand Kosas, which offers inclusive shades in its make-up ranges
SARA ZEWDE
Founding principal of design firm Studio Zewde, which focuses on landscape architecture, urbanism and public art
Gallerists and collectors putting great design under the spotlight, bringing historical design, contemporary makers and emerging talent to the world.
AMAURI AGUIAR & BRYAN YOUNG
Founders of Verso
DAVID ALHADEFF
Founder of Casa Perfect and The Future Perfect
MARC BENDA & BARRY FRIEDMAN
Co-founders of Friedman Benda
ADAM BLACKMAN
Founder of Blackman Cruz
BIANCA CHEN & JOEL CHEN
Art and design curator (Bianca), and her antiques dealer father (Joel), who founded JF Chen Antiques
BENJAMIN CRITTON AND HEIDI KORSAVONG
Founders of gallery Marta, which champions emerging creatives from a diverse background
BENOIST DRUT
Head of design gallery Maison Gerard, which specialises in fine French art deco furniture
JAMIE GRAY
Founder of gallery, showroom and contemporary design manufacturer Matter
KATJA HIRCHE
President and owner of gallery Bernd Goeckler
KIM HOSTLER AND JULIET BURROWS
Founders of gallery Hostler Burrows
LICHEN NYC
Design incubator and store
ZESTY MEYERS AND EVAN SNYDERMAN
Founders of R & Company, champions of collectible design from contemporary and modern names
PATRICK PARRISH
Founder of Patrick Parrish Gallery, showcasing modernist artists and designers
RODMAN PRIMACK AND RUDY F. WEISSENBERG
Co-founders of design gallery Ago Projects
JEANNE GREENBERG ROHATYN
Founder of Salon 94 Design
EMMA SCULLY
Founder of Emma Scully Gallery, which promotes applied arts through a curated exhibition programme
ALEX TIEGHI-WALKER
Founder of Tiwa Select, a curatorial platform dedicated to craft and self-taught makers, which recently opened a Tiwa Select New York space.
Creatives working in fashion, architecture, visual arts and more: the rising stars getting us excited for the future.
JEREMY ANDERSON
Visionary ceramic artist, taking the material to unexplored creative expressions
LEONARD BESSEMER
Founder of Objects for Objects, creating sculptural furniture and products
EMILY BODE
Founder of fashion brand Bode, creating handcrafted clothing cut from antique fabrics, Victorian quilts, grain sacks and bed linens
BRADLEY BOWERS
Designer using technology and advanced material research to create furniture, lighting and objects
AIDEN BOWMAN AND JOSH METERSKY
Self-taught designers and founders of lighting studio Trueing, which takes inspiration from their art history and engineering backgrounds
NATALIE BRUMLEY
Artist and jewellery designer
SARAH BURNS Furniture designer merging traditional American craft with humour
JEROME BYRON
Fast-emerging architecture and design who blends art and design
DYLAN CAO AND JIN KAY
Founders of fashion brand Commission, inspired by memories of their mothers when they were women at work in Vietnam and Korea.
CHEN CHEN AND KAI WILLIAMS
Founders of their eponymous design studio, which explores materials and new ways to use them
LILY CLARK
Ceramicist that focuses on hand-built and extruded fountains and water features
ASTRAEUS CLARKE
Furniture and lighting designers, based in Brooklyn
TELFAR CLEMENS
Liberian-American founder of fashion and accessories label Telfar, winner of 2017 CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund
CARMEN D’APOLLONIO
Ceramic artist
DARA
Fashion director, Interview
BOBBY DOHERTY
Photographer who uses hyper-real colours and textures to create memorable digital compositions and almost lurid still-lifes. With an eye for minute detail, his work is visually rich, whether focused on the human form or a single droplet of water on a flower’s petal
OLIVIA ERLANGER
Artist
DAVID BRANDON GEETING
Photographer, bridges genres, creates colourful worlds that balance skilful chaos with wide-eyed curiosity
NADINE GHOSN
Jewellery designer creating chic yet cheeky collections, redefining fine jewellery for the next generation
DANIEL PATRICK GILES
Founder of Perfumehead, an olfactory label that challenges traditional perceptions of fragrance
MARK GRATTAN
Multidisciplinary designer grounded in two decades of skilled wood craftsmanship
MILES GREENBERG
Performance artist
MARTINE GUTIERREZ
Artist and performer
CHASE HALL
Artist who applies coffee to cotton canvas (both inextricably linked to Africa and slavery) to explore ‘the impossible absolute of biracial identity’
ETHAN HIDALGO
Furniture designer, founder of Studio Hidalgo
CATHERINE HOLSTEIN
Founder of womenswear label Khaite, known for its balance of masculinity and femininity, strength and softness, structure and fluidity
LOUISA JACOBSON
Actor, star of HBO’s period drama The Gilded Age
SOPHIE LOU JACOBSEN
French-American designer whose focus is on simple objects and rituals that elevate the user experience
OLALEKAN JEYIFOUS
Nigerian-born, New York-based visual artist and designer whose work reimagines social spaces that examine the relationships between architecture, community and the environment
MISHA KAHN
Blurs boundaries between sculpture and design with a wildly imaginative approach (as seen in our interview ahead of Kahn’s 2020 Friedman Benda show)
CASEY KENYON
Interior design's rising star
MONICA KHEMSUROV
Co-Founder Sight Unseen, founder of hardware brand Petra
MINJAE KIM
Korean-born designer whose work explores ideas of identity and belonging (Kim showed alongside his artist mother at Matter Projects in 2022)
SAM KLEMICK
Founder of Studio Sam Klemick, furniture design practice that utilises salvaged materials and deadstock/vintage textiles
LAP CHI KWONG AND ALISON VON GLINOW
Founders of architecture practice Kwong Von Glinow, bringing optimism and playfulness to the streets of Chicago
LIAM LEE
Creates biophilic furniture using colour-saturated felt
ENY LEE PARKER
Ceramic designer and artist
RYAN LEIDNER
Founder of young and dynamic eponymous architecture office with a flair for creating residential spaces that commune with nature
DEAN LEVIN
Artist-designer and architect
HANNEKE LOURENS
Furniture designer
RYAN LOWRY
Photographer, captures youthful energy, spontaneity and unpretentious spirit. Huge breadth in the variety of subjects, techniques and styles of photography. His work is playful and candid while still preserving his distinct point of view
ALDA LY
Architect and interior designer who blends fun and deep listening
CHRIS MAGGIO
Photographer, his work playfully reinvents the genre of Americana and subverts internet culture
CHARLES MATADIN
Model and artist
MOLLY MATALON
Photographer, graduate of New York’s School of Visual Arts, work deals with desire, idealisation and power dynamics, fixing a gaze that empowers and provides a rarely-seen female photographic viewpoint
JOHN MAY & ZEINA KOREITEM
Founders of architecture studio Millions
MODELLUS NOVUS
Architects
OWIU
Architecture studio that designs mindful spaces and ceramics
NICHOLAS OBEID
Furniture and lighting designer
NIFEMI OGUNRO
French-born Nigerian-American designer whose furniture is inspired by family and cultural traditions
TIMOTHY O’CONNELL
Photographer, recently spent five years documenting his experience as an American travelling through the Republican of Ireland and Northern Ireland, exploring culture and identity
COREY OLSEN
Photographer, graduate of New York’s School of Visual Arts, create still-lifes of the banal and the everyday, imbuing them with nostalgia and meaning, primarily expressed through form and colour
ALESSANDRO ORSINI AND NICK ROSEBORO
Founders of Architensions, where research and architectural design flair merge with grids and geometric aesthetics
JEAN AND OLIVER PELLE
Founders of design studio Pelle, which merges art and engineering to create expressive lighting, furniture and design objects
ARIANA PAPADEMETROPOULOS
Artist who explores themes including femininity and sensuality through both her paintings and the highly stylised photographs
RIFF STUDIO
Thoughtful, young, research-based architecture and design studio
LEAH RING
Designer, founder of Another Human
JAVIER ROBLES
Architect and interior designer
ISABEL ROWER
Ceramic artist
ERICA SELLERS & JEREMY SILBERBERG
Founders of Studio SII, creating furntiture and lighting
PETER B STAPLES AND JAMES MCAVEY
Founders of lighting design studio Blue Green Works, known for its sensual yet masculine approach to form
SAM STEWART
Designer
KATIE STOUT
Artist and designer who creates furniture and objects that use traditional craft techniques and material, but which are shaped by an urge to subvert utilitarian forms with unexpected results
FREDERICK TANG
The founder of the eponymous architecture studio creates contemporary chic that’s not afraid of colour
JOMO TARIKU
Ethiopian-American artist and industrial designer defining a new design language of modern African-themed furniture (featured in the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever movie set)
TERREMOTO
Rising stars of landscape architecture
ALEXIS TINGEY & GINGER GORDON
Founders of design studio Alexis & Ginger
CAROLINE TOMPKINS
Photographer, creates poetic and intimate works that pull no punches when it comes to exploring female sexuality and identity
RYAN TWARDZIK
Designer
ELLEN VAN DUSEN
Founder of Dusen Dusen textile brand
DEVIN WILDE
Ceramic artist creating geometric works in clay
CHRIS WOLSTON
Artist and designer who has collaborated with with the likes of Fendi, Phillip Lim and Dior
MAX WORRELL AND JEJON YEUNG
Founders of architecture studio Worrell Yeung, creating architecture that looks effortless and transforms the lives of its users (see Worrell Yeung’s refresh of a Charles Gwathmey home)
JIALUN XIONG
Hails originally from Chongqing, China, explores ideas of duality and creative restraint
HOA XUANDE
Actor
IDO YOSHIMOTO
Artist and arborist whose work focuses on forms and objects from the natural world
UTHARAA ZACHARIAS AND PALAASH CHAUDHARY
Indian-born founders of studio Soft-Geometry
A version of the Wallpaper* USA 400 appears in the August 2024 issue of Wallpaper*, a guide to Creative America, available to download free when you sign up to our daily digest of news, in print on newsstands from 4 July, on the Wallpaper* app on Apple iOS, and to subscribers of Apple News +. Subscribe to Wallpaper* today
