CELEBRATING FEMALE TRAILBLAZERS FOR INTERNATIONAL WOMENS DAY

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Design is an industry in which so many women stand out – not simply because of their talent or attention to detail, but for their empathy and understanding of the world around them along with the tenacity and drive it takes to be successful in a ferociously competitive field. 

So, to celebrate this year’s International Women’s Day, join us as we look back at some of the female trailblazers we’ve interviewed in SPACE.

Alexandra Champalimaud, President, Champalimaud Design
With an appreciation of traditional design and craftsmanship, Alexandra Champalimaud and her eponymous design studio is the talent behind some of the world’s most iconic hotels. Here she shares a little of her creative journey with SPACE. Alexandra Champalimaud is the Founder of internationally renowned, multi-disciplined design studio, Champalimaud Design. Launched in Montreal in 1981 and now based in New York City, the award-winning studio is the creative vision behind some of the world’s most famous hotel interiors; The Bel-Air, The Algonquin, Raffles Singapore, Waldorf Astoria New York, and currently Claridge’s, to name but a few, along with a host of luxury restaurants, bars and spas. With a team of 50 designers, working across a minimum of 30 projects at any one time, Alexandra now runs the studio with her three partners: Ed Bakos, Winston Kong, and Jon Kastl. Read more

Kimberley Cohen, Co-Founder and Artistic Director, Maisons Pariente
Launched in 2019, Maisons Pariente is a family owned luxury hotel collection. Emma Kennedy talks to Kimberley Cohen about life as a hotelier as they prepare to make their début in Paris with their latest hotel, Le Grand Mazarin.
Could you tell us a little about your childhood?
I grew up one of four siblings in Neuilly Sur Seine, a Parisian suburb, until I was 11 when we moved to Brussels where I lived until I graduated high school at 17. My sister Leslie and I have always been very close, even though she is eight years older than me. She was a great role model, and I always considered her a second mother. Today she is my best friend.  Read more

Holly Hallam, Managing Director, DesignLSM
DesignLSM is an award-winning, multi-disciplined studio specialising in hospitality interior design. Talking to SPACE Editor, Emma Kennedy, Holly Hallam explains why looks aren’t everything and the importance of strategy.
Co-founded in 1986 by Steve LaBouchardiere and Simon McCarthy, DesignLSM has gone on to become a key player globally within hospitality design. With clients including many of the major brands, its portfolio is as diverse as the services it offers—an all-encompassing list covering more than just interior design. Based in Brighton with a satellite office in Dubai, its multi-disciplinary approach is collaborative and immersive, with a strong emphasis on strategy. Arriving at an unprepossessing tower block, adjacent to a carpark in Brighton’s city centre. I take the lift to the sixth floor. Walking through double doors, I enter a… Read more

Naomi Heaton, Founder & Chief Executive Officer, The Other House
Recognising a gap in the market is a recurring theme for property doyenne Naomi Heaton. Having now turned her attention to hospitality she talks to Emma Kennedy about creating a home from home with the launch of her latest venture, The Other House. When real estate investment company London Central Portfolio (LCP) and Dutch-based investor APG announced the acquisition of Harrington Hall hotel, in London’s South Kensington, my ears pricked up for a couple of reasons. Firstly, because I remembered the handsome hotel only too well from my childhood and had nostalgically observed its gentle decline in recent years, and secondly because the woman behind the acquisition was Naomi Heaton. Read more

Kit Kemp MBE, Founder and Creative Director, Firmdale Hotels & Kit Kemp Design Studio
From student dwellings to award winning hotels, Kit Kemp paints a colourful picture of a life in design for Emma Kennedy. As zoom fails go, this was up there. Let me set the scene. Kit Kemp is busy. She has a design studio, a hotel chain, a raft of residential projects in progress, Firmdale’s latest hotel in New York’s Tribeca to design, and a portfolio of ongoing creative collaborations. Then there are her books, an online shop to curate, and a host of forthcoming projects she’s not at liberty to discuss yet. Her studio in London’s South Kensington is home to a team of 12 designers, including two of her three daughters Willow and Minnie, an inhouse architect and her husband and business partner Tim. Read more

Gina Mamidakis, Chief Executive Officer, Bluegr Hotels and Resorts
As bluegr Hotels and Resorts reaches its 60^th year in business, Gina Mamidakis shows SPACE the magnetism of Cretan hospitality, and reveals how to create luxury hotels with authentic cultural essence. Ever since the Minos Beach Art Hotel first opened on the still-spectacular Mirabello Bay in 1963 by local businessman George Mamidakis, it’s been the talk of the town – or rather, the whole island. Perfectly poised on a landscape of sandy shores, craggy rocks, and succulent Mediterranean greenery, the hotel’s whitewashed bungalows, villas, and terraces embody the traditional architectural style of Eastern Crete’s fishing villages. Originally designed by architect Eleni Soufli, one of the first female graduates of the post-war generation of National Technical University of Athens, the distinctive waterfront position is a rare sight today, as modern Greek development restrictions push buildings further and further from the crystal coastline. Read more

Tina Norden, Principal and Partner, Conran and Partners
With views reaching out across the urban mangroves of Mumbai, Taj the Trees offers a new face to the Taj Hotel brand. Having recently completed the interiors, Tina Norden discusses the concept, design and joys of working with a can-do team. Mumbai is known for many things – street markets, festivals, global finance, and of course Bollywood. Less known is the vast sprawling Vikhroli mangrove that fringes the west bank of the Thane Creek. In 1948 the Godrej family acquired several hundred acres of the land to set up an Industrial Garden Township for their business that was experiencing exponential growth. Admirably ahead of their time, as multiple factories, workshops, and housing rose out of the dense vegetation, the rich biodiversity of the mangrove was recognised, and the family sought to protect the ecosystem from the very beginning. Read more

Iro Orri, Managing Director, Epoque Collection
With more than 20 years of experience in hotel management, appointing Iro Orri as managing director was an obvious choice when Epoque Collection launched in 2019. Three years on, Emma Kennedy caught up with Iro to hear how the brand has developed and their plans for the future.
Where did your passion for the hospitality industry come from and what was your first role?
I come from a multicultural family, my father is Saudi Arabian and my mother is Greek, and as a child we used to travel to different places and stay at unique hotels all the time. Even at a young age, I remember how captivated I was every time we stepped into a hotel. I would take in the welcoming smiles of the team, the scent of each place, the plushness of the pillows and the delicious tastes with admiration. Read more

Marie Sibuet, Co-Director, Maisons & Hotels Sibuet
In 1981, Jocelyn and Jean-Louis Sibuet decided to open a small boutique hotel in Megève—when boutique hotels were still a new entity. As the family business continues to grow, Emma Kennedy discusses the importance of family, the joy of decorating and what’s next with Marie Sibuet. Nestled between the Italian and Swiss borders and rubbing snow-capped shoulders with neighbouring Chamonix is the ski resort of Megève. Apparently, disenchanted with St.Moritz, the Rothschilds descended upon the slopes in the 1920s, sealing its reputation as one of the more elegant resorts—or so the story goes. French aristocracy and fashionable society soon followed, and the picturesque village—known more for its agricultural offerings than its ski slopes—soon became the chic resort it is today. Read more