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The 27 Black women profiled by Architectural Digest are changing architecture and design by expanding who gets to shape homes, buildings, landscapes, shops, cultural spaces and screen environments. The February 6, 2025 feature is an interview package, not a ranking: its value is the range of practices, career routes and ideas the women describe.
Read the profiles as a map of the field rather than a contest. Some interviewees trained in architecture or interior design; others moved through dance, teaching, fashion, crafts, writing, entrepreneurship or film. Together, they show practical ways into design, why representation matters and how projects can carry identity, community memory and ecological responsibility.
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What does the Architectural Digest feature cover?
Architectural Digest’s “27 Black Women Changing the Architecture and Design Space” treats “design” broadly. The 27 profiles span architecture, interior design, landscape architecture, urban design, public art, retail, hospitality, experiential work and film production design. A residential studio, a public landscape, a retail environment and a movie set may look unrelated, yet each determines how people move, gather, feel represented and use space.
The article is also intentionally interview-led. Each woman discusses an entry route, a practice or business, and a view of what the profession should become. Because the source was published in 2025, a role or project described there should be read as an interview-era account, not a guarantee that every title or service remains unchanged. For a complete, current roster, use the linked feature and each designer’s official biography.
Why does representation in architecture and design matter?
The feature reports that Black women make up 0.4 percent of licensed architects in the United States, citing an Archinect report from 2020. It also cites Zippia for a figure that 1.5 percent of U.S. interior designers identify as Black or African-American; the Architectural Digest passage does not specify the survey year. These figures come from different publishers, dates and likely methodologies, so they should not be treated as directly comparable or as a current census.
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“The future of architecture and design eradicates racism, sexism, and other forms of oppression from our built environment,” architect Pascale Sablan tells the feature.
That is an aspiration, not a measurable industry outcome. The article’s contribution is to show the many practices through which designers pursue it, from advocacy and education to material choices and community-led work.
Who are the 27 women, and what kinds of work do they do?
The names below are drawn from the feature’s reported roster and examples. They are organized by practice and pathway to help readers navigate the package, not to rank the designers. The Architectural Digest article remains the authoritative place to check the complete 27-person list and the latest descriptions.
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1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors| Designer | Practice or route highlighted in the feature | What the profile helps readers understand |
|---|---|---|
| Leah Alexander | Founder of Atlanta-based Beauty Is Abundant (2018), serving residential and commercial clients locally, nationally and internationally | How an independent studio can pair an inclusive design point of view with a broad client base. Her firm’s official About page provides corroborating practice information. |
| Danielle Colding | Moved from dance and teaching into design school, an internship and a full-service firm | A career change can become a coherent design career when education, workplace experience and a growing portfolio reinforce one another. |
| Joy Moyler | Worked at architecture firms, founded her own firm in 2011, and works across interiors, fashion houses, writing and mentoring | Design expertise can travel between sectors; writing and mentorship can be part of practice rather than separate from it. |
| Justina Blakeney | Arts, crafts and fashion led to a design blog and the Jungalow brand | Publishing and audience-building can become a route into product and interior design entrepreneurship. |
| Little Wing Lee | After leading a design team at Atelier Ace, founded Studio & Projects; established Black Folks in Design in 2017 | Professional networks can be designed deliberately. A cross-disciplinary community can address visibility and access that individual firms cannot solve alone. |
| Malene Barnett | Founder of the Black Artists + Designers Guild (2018), with textile and rug design work | Material practice, cultural research and collective organizing can reinforce one another. |
| Hannah Beachler | Film production designer | Production design involves both creative authorship and large-scale management, often in environments with few Black people or women. |
| Tiara Hughes | Founded First500 in 2018 after finding few resources and networks for Black women in architecture | When a profession lacks an accessible pathway, creating an information and support network is itself a form of infrastructure. |
| Mariam Issoufou | Established an architecture practice in Niamey in 2014 | Architecture can combine ecological solutions with community-minded projects and local context rather than importing a single universal model. |
| Pascale Sablan | Architect, advocate and leader associated with the Great Diverse Designers Library and Say It Loud | Advocacy can document overlooked practitioners, change who is taught and widen the definition of architectural history. |
| Neffi Walker | Founded The Black Home after renovating her own home | A personal project can become a studio, and documenting small work can create evidence for future clients. Walker advises starting at home or offering friends free design help to get active. |
| Sara Zewde | Landscape architecture, urban design and public art | Her practice links place, narrative, craft and community. Studio Zewde states its purpose as being “devoted to creating enduring places where people belong.” |
| Estelle Bailey-Babenzien | Interior architecture and experiential design | Experiential work crosses physical space, brand experience and the question of whose lives a design represents. She says she wants “the future of design to look like a true representation of our world.” |
| Tiffany Thompson | Interior designer | Client advocacy is part of design quality. Thompson argues that “the future of design should give the customer better options.” |
| Brigette Romanek | Interior designer and author | Publishing can extend a designer’s ideas beyond individual commissions. Her debut book, Livable Luxe, was published in 2023, according to the feature. |
| Anne Dereaux, Laura Hodges, NeKeia McSwain, Kimberly Dowdell, Sandra Githinji, Delia Kenza, Jade McNeil, Ashley Ross, Elizabeth Graziolo and additional featured designers | Profiles across architecture, interiors and related design disciplines | The package is deliberately wider than a single specialty. Check the source feature for each woman’s current role, services and project details before making a directory or referral. |
This grouping is a navigation aid, not a claim that any designer works in only one category. Many of the women move between disciplines, media and business models. That fluidity is one of the feature’s central points.
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What career routes do the interviews reveal?
There is no single “correct” way to enter architecture or design. The interviews describe several routes that can overlap:
- Formal study and coursework. Design school or architecture education can provide technical vocabulary, critique, history and access to internships. It is not presented as a universal requirement for every design service.
- Internships and first workplaces. Danielle Colding’s move from dance and teaching through design school and an internship shows how adjacent experience can become a foundation rather than a detour.
- Mentorship and outreach. Contacting practitioners whose work you admire, joining local organizations and asking specific questions can reveal opportunities that generic job searches miss.
- Small projects. Neffi Walker’s advice is practical: start at home or help friends, then document what you did. A small, well-recorded room can demonstrate judgment, process and communication.
- Entrepreneurship. Leah Alexander, Little Wing Lee, Malene Barnett and others built firms, brands or networks in response to opportunities they saw. Entrepreneurship brings control, but also requires contracts, pricing, scheduling and client management.
- Cross-disciplinary work. Dance, teaching, fashion, crafts, writing and film can supply skills in movement, storytelling, materials, visual communication or production management.
These are individually described paths, not guarantees. Architectural licensure, protected titles and educational requirements vary by jurisdiction and are outside this feature’s scope; anyone offering regulated architectural services should check the relevant licensing board.
How can a beginner use these examples to start a design career?
Use the profiles as a sequence of experiments rather than as a demand to choose a lifelong specialty immediately.
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- Study five practices closely. Compare the designers’ services, project scale, geography, materials and stated values. Look for the tasks behind the finished images: drawing, sourcing, budgeting, fabrication, writing, permitting or client management.
- Make one small project. Redesign a room, create a material study, map a public space, develop a planting concept or build a visual story. Keep the brief, sketches, revisions, budget and final photographs.
- Ask for targeted feedback. Send a concise note to a practitioner, local organization or professional network. Ask one answerable question about your portfolio or next skill, rather than requesting an unspecific opportunity.
- Build a repeatable portfolio habit. Photograph work consistently, caption your role and record collaborators. A portfolio should show decisions and process, not just polished final images.
- Learn the business layer. Practice a scope of work, fee proposal, invoice, schedule and revision policy. For regulated architectural work, research jurisdiction-specific credentials before advertising services.
- Join communities that reflect your goals. Networks such as those highlighted in the feature can provide visibility, peer critique and referrals. Participation should be reciprocal: share resources, credit collaborators and make introductions when you can.
For people who cannot enroll immediately in a full degree, this approach creates evidence of commitment while leaving room to decide whether additional schooling is necessary for the work they want to do.
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How should readers interpret the feature’s ideas about community and identity?
The interviewees speak from distinct practices and experiences; their comments should not be flattened into a universal theory of design. Sara Zewde’s emphasis on places where people belong, for example, comes from a practice spanning landscape, urban design and public art. Leah Alexander’s inclusive-design perspective emerges from a residential and commercial studio. Their shared language about belonging does not mean they use identical methods.
Across the package, design is treated as consequential: materials carry histories, plans distribute access, and a client brief can either narrow or expand who is considered. The strongest reading is specific. Ask what a designer changed, for whom, with which materials or partnerships, and how the decision appears in the finished work.
Where can you read the full set of profiles and continue learning?
Start with the complete Architectural Digest feature, which contains the full 27-person roster and each interview. Then follow links to the studios, organizations and official biographies named in those profiles; current services and roles should be confirmed there before commissioning or citing someone.
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1Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches2Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors3Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteFor a book-length perspective, the feature identifies Brigette Romanek’s Livable Luxe as her 2023 debut book. It is a useful example of how a practicing designer can communicate methods and ideas to a public audience, but it is not a substitute for studying the full range of disciplines represented in the article.
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How we picked the examples in this guide
The examples follow the source feature’s own evidence: named interviewees, the disciplines and routes it describes, and the specific organizations or projects attributed there. They are arranged to show breadth rather than superiority. Because the source is an interview package published in February 2025, readers should verify present-day roles, availability and services through current official pages.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are all 27 women licensed architects?
No. The feature includes interior designers, landscape architects, urban designers, public artists, experiential designers and a film production designer alongside architects. “Architecture and design” is being used as a broad field label, not as a statement that every interviewee holds an architectural license.
What is the best first portfolio project for an aspiring designer?
Choose a small brief with a real user and a clear constraint, such as redesigning one room or documenting a public-space observation. Show the research, sketches, revisions, materials and final result so a reviewer can see how you think, not only what you made.
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The interviews show different educational paths, and the feature does not establish one universal credential rule. Requirements depend on the services you offer and where you work; check local regulations, especially if your work could be considered regulated architectural practice.
Where can I find the complete list of names from the feature?
The full roster appears in the original Architectural Digest article linked in this guide. Use that source for the exact names, then consult each person’s current official biography before treating the feature as a present-day directory.
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