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April 13, 2026

We Asked Firm Owners, “Which Historical Figure Is Your Dream Collab?”

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5 min read

Summary

When we asked women firm owners which historical figure they’d most want to collaborate with, their answers were pretty unique. They pointed to the kinds of spaces, objects, and experiences these designers still want to create: furniture, hospitality spaces, textiles, ceramics, workplaces, and homes shaped by beauty, rigor, emotion, and meaning.

Reflection Questions

Which historical figure’s work still influences the way you think about design, even if you don’t reference them directly?

If you could collaborate with someone from another era, what would you want to make together, and why that object, space, or experience?

Do your influences point more toward structure, atmosphere, materiality, symbolism, or something else entirely?

Journal Prompt

Think about the historical figure whose work still stays with you, even after all the references, projects, and visual noise that come with a design career. Write about why that person still matters to you. Be specific. What part of their work keeps returning to your mind? Is it their use of color, their discipline, their worldview, the way they handled materials, or the kind of feeling their work creates? Then write about what you’d want to make with them.

As interior designers, we’re constantly in conversation with the past, whether we mean to be or not. We borrow from architecture, fine art, fashion, craft, and historical reference all the time. Still, it’s one thing to admire someone’s work from afar and another to imagine what you’d actually make with them. Asking a designer this question encourages her to reveal something very specific about her taste, her priorities, and the kind of work she still wants to pursue.

That’s part of what makes the responses to this question from our Women, In Their Own Words series so interesting. When we asked designers which historical figure they’d most want to collaborate with and what they’d create together, the answers were quite wide-ranging. Some women named architects and designers whose discipline or rigor changed the field. Others chose artists, religious figures, or cultural icons whose sensibilities still shape how they think about beauty, form, color, atmosphere, or meaning.

If you’ve ever wondered which historical figures still live in the imagination of working designers, read on.

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Karin Bohn

Could we please create a line of furniture together?!

Read Karin’s full Women, In Their Own Words interview here.

Learn More About Karin on Her Website: houseofbohn.com 

Or Follow on Socials: @houseofbohn

Brittany Farinas

Her innovative approach to fluidity and form would push the boundaries of design, resulting in a groundbreaking space.

Read Brittany’s full Women, In Their Own Words interview here.

Learn More About Brittany on Her Website: houseof1.com 

Or Follow on Socials: @houseofone_

Paulina Hospod

I teach Professional Practice to college seniors, and we often discuss major women designers who shaped our field. What I admire most about Knoll is how she championed the value of both education and professional experience in defining what it means to be an interior designer.

She was among the first to distinguish design as a discipline separate from decoration—rooted in rigor, function, and vision. I’d love to collaborate with her on a contemporary workplace that balances form, flow, and human connection.

Read Paulina’s full Women, In Their Own Words interview here.

Learn More About Paulina on Her Website: aha-interiors.com  

Or Follow on Socials: @paulinahospod

Mimi Meacham

If we collaborated, I’d love to translate that sensibility into interiors—spaces where color feels intentional and joyful, not overwhelming. I imagine rooms that are calm yet expressive, with moments of boldness layered into otherwise restrained backdrops. The result would be homes that feel collected, personal, and quietly energizing, spaces that make you feel something the moment you walk in.

Read Mimi’s full Women, In Their Own Words interview here.

Learn More About Paulina on Her Website: marianlouisedesign.com 

Or Follow on Socials: @marianlouisedesign

Bre Hance

We’d have fun and would come up with some next-level modernized Greek and Egyptian aesthetics.

Read Bre’s full Women, In Their Own Words interview here.

Learn More About Bre on Her Website: inhancedesignbuild.com

Or Follow on Socials: @inhance_interiors

Jamie Young

My love of fashion also definitely blends into home design inspiration.

Read Jamie’s full Women, In Their Own Words interview here.

Learn More About Jamie on Her Website: jamieyoung.com 

Or Follow on Socials: @jamieyoungco

Antonia Caicedo

He was a master in architecture and designed some of the most iconic furniture pieces of modern times. I would love to create a furniture collaboration with such a legend.

Read Antonia’s full Women, In Their Own Words interview here.

Learn More About Antonia on Her Website: jimeco.com/antonia-collection  

Or Follow on Socials: @antonia.collection

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Alex Thies

When I was in elementary school, I did a project where I had to learn everything there was to know about Leonardo da Vinci and present to the rest of my class. I was fascinated then, and continue to be, at the way he was a master of so many things—from being a fine artist to an inventor, a master of geology and zoology, an architect, an engineer and beyond.

I think I would be so completely fascinated to work alongside him that I would be happy creating anything, while understanding the theory and logical reasoning behind it.

Read Alex’s full Women, In Their Own Words interview here.

Learn More About Alex on Her Website: adelyncharles.com   

Or Follow on Socials: @adelyncharles

Rhonnika Clifton

As a carpenter, he created beautiful things with his hands. I’m a designer, and he’s Jesus THE Christ, so this would literally be a match made in heaven. I’d love to design my dream homestead with him—custom family homes on a sprawling 10-15-acre property, complete with a bunker, a multi-car garage, a gym, trails, a koi pond, and more.

Read Rhonnika’s full Women, In Their Own Words interview here.

Learn More About Rhonnika on Her Website: rjcliftondesigns.com 

Or Follow on Socials: @rjcliftondesignsllc

April Littmann

If I could collaborate with Him, I’d want to create a space that truly reflects a home designed for restoration, hospitality, and serving our neighbor.

Read April’s full Women, In Their Own Words interview here.

Learn More About April on Her Website: neighborinteriors.com 

Or Follow on Socials: @neighborinteriors

Sarah Choudhary

Carlo Scarpa… His sensitivity to materials, obsession with detail, and ability to seamlessly blend the old with the new is something I deeply resonate with. I would love to create a boutique hotel—where every junction, texture, and transition tells a story. I imagine the process itself would be as inspiring as the final creation—layered, intentional, and timeless.

Read Sarah’s full Women, In Their Own Words interview here.

Learn More About Sarah on Her Website: habitatarc.com

Or Follow on Socials: @afar.habitat

Camilla van den Tempel

I’ve always been captivated by the depth and drama of his work, especially his use of large canvases and the richness of the dark Renaissance style. Together, we would create an immersive, grand historical room inspired by his signature tones, bringing his paintings to life.

The room would be characterized by a sense of heaviness and a dramatic allure that draws you in. The design would mirror the impact of his monumental canvases, transforming his artistic style into reality.

Read Camilla’s full Women, In Their Own Words interview here.

Learn More About Camilla on Her Website: andtempel.com 

Or Follow on Socials: @andtempel

Final Thoughts

Many thanks to our Women, In Their Own Words interviewees for participating in this roundup. There is real value in hearing which figures other designers value, especially when the answers extend far beyond the expected canon or reveal something much more personal. A choice like this can tell you a lot about a designer. Not only what she admires but what she wants to build, refine, or understand more deeply.

DesignDash Community Growth Studio Waitlist

That kind of self-reflection and peer connection is one reason we created DesignDash Growth Studio. Inside the program, women firm owners talk through not only the business side of design but also the ideas, references, and experiences that keep feeding their work over time. Those conversations occur in a room made up entirely of women in design, which is so valuable, especially when some are just starting out and others have been leading firms for decades.

If this article resonated with you, or made you think differently about the figures who still influence your own work, you can join the waitlist for the next cohort here.

*The featured image of this post is April Littmann, founder and principal designer of Neighbor Interiors.

Written by the DesignDash Editorial Team
Our contributors include experienced designers, firm owners, design writers, and other industry professionals. If you’re interested in submitting your work or collaborating, please reach out to our Editor-in-Chief at editor@designdash.com.