Home & Lifestyle, Design & Style

Design Heroes

Lesson time 04:25 min

Kelly discusses the designers who have influenced her work, including Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Josef Hoffmann, Pierre Cardin, and Ettore Sottsass.

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Topics include: Josef Hoffmann: A Confident Use of Black and White · Charles Rennie Mackintosh: Committing to a Story · Pierre Cardin: Crossing Over Many Mediums · Ettore Sottsass: A Whimsical Use of Color and Form

Kelly Wearstler

Teaches Interior Design

Award-winning designer Kelly Wearstler teaches you interior design techniques to make any space more beautiful, creative, and inspiring.

Preview

[MUSIC PLAYING] KELLY WEARSTLER: Many of my influences span over different sectors of design-- fashion design, architecture, graphic design, art, jewelry, all so inspirational to me. There are many design geniuses that I look at as my inspiration heroes and one of them is Josef Hoffman. He's an Austrian architect, and what I love about his work is he loved geometric motifs, and he loved black and white. He'd covered many different aspects of design from tabletop, glassware, interior design, architecture, and this is one of my favorite chairs of his. It's very sculptural in form, and again, you can see the use of black and white and his love of squares. He also designed a lot of fabrics, and his fabrics were very contrast in nature and were powerful and made like a really beautiful statement. And you can see, actually, this fabric that was used on the wall in this room as a wall covering. And I love black and white, and I think it's powerful and bold, but it can also be used in a very quiet way, and it can define a space. [MUSIC PLAYING] Charles Rennie Mackintosh is another one of my design heroes. What I love about him is he committed to a story. He was from Scotland, and he designed this amazing home for a publishing family. And it's called the Hill House. And one of the things that I find so amazing is he was really also into function, and he spent three months with his family at home to see how they live, and on top of his incredible design was a love of flowers. And so he took this rose motif, and he really designed into that aspect, into every realm. So if you look at this bedroom, he took the rose motif, and he created a beautiful wall covering. He used a rose motif inside these stained glass windows. There were embroideries on the bed. There were embroideries on the curtain. He designed this motif into carpets and embroideries on the back of chairs, also to the tabletop, everywhere. So it was like an amazing story that he committed to, and it's a thread that weaved throughout the entire house. The story is so important when designing into something, and Mackintosh, I feel, was really genius at that. [MUSIC PLAYING] Pierre Cardin, another influential spirit in my design world-- he was a French fashion designer. He designed everything from fashion to jewelry to tabletop, furniture. He crossed over so many mediums, and he did it so well and with an incredible spirit. He was definitely more avant garde and incredibly experimental. And he really stood out. He was unique. He followed his heart. You could see he had a passion for what he did, and it's so evident in his work. He really loved the round form and things that were very voluminous. With his natural forms, he created these incredible spaces that are even so warm that you want to hang out and enjoy. [MUSIC PLAYING] Another incredible artist that I love so much is Ettore Sottsass, an Italian architect. And what I love about his work is his use o...

About the Instructor

Eclectic and experiential, Kelly Wearstler’s style helped redefine modern American design and influenced the rise of designer hotels. Now the award-winning designer takes you behind the scenes to demystify interior design. Make any space feel larger, and choose colors, materials, and textures with confidence. Curate collections of art and objects, cultivate your own distinct style, and create spaces that tell a story.

Featured MasterClass Instructor

Kelly Wearstler

Award-winning designer Kelly Wearstler teaches you interior design techniques to make any space more beautiful, creative, and inspiring.

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