A new class of designers is rewriting the rules—and redefining home.
A new class of designers is rewriting the rules—and redefining home.
Design is constantly evolving, but ever so often, a group of creatives emerges who aren’t just following the moment, but rather expanding it. For me, this is what the Visionaries represent. They are designers who refuse to shrink their ideas to fit within a trend cycle or an algorithm. Instead, they build worlds that acknowledge emotion, identity, memory, and lineage as essential design materials.
As I interviewed each honoree, I kept feeling the same thing: these are people who design from a place of truth. They care about what a room holds long after the photo is taken—how it shapes someone’s daily rituals, how it honors where they come from, and how it makes them feel seen inside their own life.
The Visionaries approach interior design as something living. They push color in ways that feel courageous. They create emotional textures as intentionally as they select materials. They treat storytelling as structure. They make room for cultural specificity without explanation. And they understand that home is not simply a backdrop; it’s an extension of self.
Across cities, timelines, and disciplines, this year’s Visionaries share a common thread: a commitment to designing with depth. Their work is generous, layered, and expansive. It reflects who we’ve been, who we are, and who we’re becoming next.
These are the designers shaping the future of home.
And it’s an honor to introduce them.
Color-forward, art-forward, and deeply intentional, Leah turns emotional clarity into design language.
Leah Alexander’s design journey began in the luxury retail world of Rodeo Drive, where she first realized how much environments shape experience. After a decade spent working at top design firms in Los Angeles, she founded Beauty is Abundant, a studio whose name mirrors her philosophy: that home should feel expansive, expressive, and deeply personal.
Color isn’t an afterthought for Leah—it’s a portal. Her process begins with a simple but transformative question: “Wouldn’t it be cool if…?” From there, she invites clients into a world where cabinetry might echo the shade of a beloved Hermès bag, or sculptural art becomes the emotional anchor of a room. Her approach challenges assumptions around safety in design, replacing them with curiosity and creative freedom.
But boldness doesn’t mean clutter. Leah believes in “doing less” to let a space breathe. Organization becomes a form of serenity; restraint becomes clarity. Her spaces are intentionally color-forward but never chaotic. They exhale.
Looking forward, Leah dreams of product design, collectible furniture, and eventually, a Beauty is Abundant coffee table book. She also envisions clients who cherish fine art, trust experimentation, and want homes that honor their own stories.
Her work proves that design can be both sophisticated and soulful, and that color, art, and intention can transform not only a room, but the people living in it.
Follow Leah on Instagram.
Where emotion leads and design follows, Tiffany creates spaces that feel as good as they look.
Before Tiffany Thompson founded Duett Interiors, she spent nearly a decade shaping storytelling at Nike—an experience that sharpened her eye and deepened her reverence for emotion-driven design. There, she learned that memorable experiences aren’t produced by aesthetics alone; they’re anchored in feeling. That same philosophy is now the heartbeat of her interiors.
Tiffany begins every project by naming the emotion a space should hold. She asks clients how they want people to feel before they enter a room and what conversations they hope linger after they leave. That clarity becomes the north star. From there, she builds a world through texture, materiality, and intentional light, which is often inspired by the silhouettes and palettes of contemporary fashion.
Her work rejects the sameness found in trend-driven design. Instead, she leans into authenticity, detail, and storytelling. And as a Black woman in luxury interiors, she is committed to expanding the narrative of what Black aesthetics can be. “We’re not a monolith,” she says. “Refined luxury is a part of our makeup, too.”
Raised in Queens, shaped by Miami, and stretched creatively by Nike, Tiffany carries each chapter with her—ambition, curiosity, and the ability to dream beyond limits. To her, luxury is not about price; it’s about presence. It’s about slowing down, engaging the senses, and choosing who you share your space with.
As Duett Interiors evolves, Tiffany is most excited about the moments she hasn’t created yet—the ones that transform how people feel in their own homes. Her work is warm, audacious, and deeply alive.
Follow Tiffany on Instagram.
Cinematic, emotional, and instinctively human, Tyka designs homes that restore the spirit.
Tyka Pryde didn’t plan to become an interior designer; she found her way to it through the world of film, production, and art direction. After years designing for television—where she earned an Emmy nomination for her work as an art director on Queer Eye—she launched her own firm, bringing the emotional intelligence of set design into the intimacy of real homes.
Her background gives her design a cinematic edge. Tyka sees rooms the way a director sees scenes—with drama, rhythm, and story. Every corner of a home is an opportunity for beauty. Every material, from velvet to plaster, carries emotional weight. She designs for the lens and for the human heart, creating spaces that are visually striking and deeply comforting.
Feeling—not form—is her entry point. She considers how someone wants to experience their day: the softness they need at sunrise, the serenity they crave after difficult moments, the joy they want to feel when surrounded by people they love. That emotional map becomes the structure of her design.
Despite her range—rustic, maximalist, minimalist, sculptural—her signature remains unmistakable: grounded, cinematic interiors full of soul. She resists the gravitational pull of Pinterest trends, choosing instead to draw inspiration from art, fashion, nature, and lived experience.
For young designers, her message is clear: start before you’re ready, work for the experience, and trust your evolution. Visibility comes from vulnerability and consistency.
Being a part of the Design Vanguard carries weight for Tyka. Representation in interiors still has gaps, and she sees her presence as an invitation. Proof that Black creativity is vast, complex, and worthy of being canonized.
Follow Tyka on Instagram.
Purpose-led, soul-driven, and grounded in transformation, Jameelah designs for who people are becoming.
Jameelah Watkins-Mallett’s creative evolution—from hairstylist to event designer to the founder of Jameelah Divine Interiors + Lifestyle—is a story of alignment meeting intention. Every chapter of her career has been rooted in transformation, but this era marks something deeper: a merging of artistry, leadership, and advocacy. “I’ve always been an artist first,” she says, and today that artistry shows up in the spaces she creates and the way she guides clients toward environments that reflect their lives with honesty and soul. Her work is a mission grounded in community, clarity, and purpose.
Central to that mission is the CASE Method, a philosophy she developed to bring structure and intention to design. Standing for Consultation, Anchors, Shell, and Enhancements, the method mirrors how she believes people build their lives: with vision, grounding, structure, and meaning. While clients come to her for beautiful interiors, they often leave with something more—a recalibrated sense of self. “Your environment should support you,” she says, a principle that shapes everything from her approach to high-profile projects to her deep connection with her local community. For Jameelah, design is a shared human experience, one that transcends status and thrives on authenticity.
That same ethos fuels the CASE Conference, which she describes not as an event but a movement. Created to fill the gaps she saw in the design industry, the conference champions strategy, business fluency, and creative leadership—especially for designers who haven’t traditionally been centered in those conversations. Her vision for the future is expansive: global creative direction, boutique hospitality concepts, and legacy-building work that “outlives the install.” But above all, she remains committed to evolution, purpose, and helping others step boldly into their next chapter. “Nothing happens before it’s time,” she says— a reminder that growth, like design, is both personal and profoundly transformative.
Follow Jameelah on Instagram.
A global eye, a fearless vision—Brittany designs boldly, no matter the room, state, or expectation.
Brittany Cooper’s journey with Rathell Designs is defined by grit, intuition, and a commitment to building something that feels bigger than circumstance. As an entrepreneur who launched her business in the midst of the pandemic, she’s no stranger to uncertainty—but she’s also not afraid of it. Opening a storefront during a volatile economic moment would intimidate most. Yet, Brittany is guided by conviction: “I just know what’s for me is going to be for me,” she says. Her upcoming shop—first imagined through beautifully executed mock-ups—has become a declaration of faith, aesthetic clarity, and expansion.
What makes Brittany stand out, especially in a region where her style isn’t the norm, is her commitment to a global, culturally blended perspective. She creates spaces that feel worldly, textural, and emotionally resonant. Travel, cultural curiosity, and a commitment to honoring global traditions ground her work. Brittany sees design as both cultural work and a bridge—especially in communities where contemporary, international perspectives are rarely represented. Her interest in boutique hotel design mirrors this mission: to offer clients an experience of the world through thoughtfully crafted spaces.
Her style challenges narrow expectations of what Black interior design is supposed to look like. It’s refined, international, elevated, and deeply intentional. As Rathell Designs enters its next era, Brittany is stepping fully into her role as leader, creative director, and global storyteller. What comes next will be bigger, braver, and beautifully hers.
Follow Brittany on Instagram.
by Arielle Clay | January 19, 2023
Find us on social for more home inspiration where culture, personal style, and sophisticated shopping intersect to help you create a home where you love to live.
