Good afternoon,

Let’s read about some women innovators. I hope you appreciate how much it took for me not title this “Womennovators”. Please let me know if you would have been fine with this because there is for sure more where that came from.

It’s quite far down the page so you’ll have to ctrl+F (or ⌘+F if you are on a mac) for Lucy Jones, who redesigned the hospital gown for greater comfort and dignity. Part of what I love about this is the value it puts on the everyday and the comforts of the everyday – the more normal things feel, the smoother the recovery.

A paper published two years ago […] even found that the garments could contribute to “post-hospital syndrome,” a condition caused by environmental stressors that can make a patient more susceptible to illness. […] Here, Lucy Jones, who was named Parsons Womenswear Designer of the Year in 2015, reimagined the hospital gown with a comfort-based approach and an emphasis on modesty. “It is all about patient dignity,” Jones says. “You’re already having your environmental space interrupted, your body prodded. The hospital gown is a contributor to that treatment.” You should feel warm and safe, she says, not exposed.

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/11/13/magazine/design-issue-redesign-challenge.html

Eva Zeisel went from fine art student, to journeyman ceramicist, to artistic director of the Russian republic’s china and glass industry, to solitary confinement under Stalin, to New York, to a commission from the Museum of Modern Art. Again, I love the focus on the everyday here, and on improving the everyday:

“She brought form to the organicism and elegance and fluidity that we expect of ceramics today, reaching as many people as possible,” said Paola Antonelli, a curator of architecture and design at the museum. “It’s easy to do something stunning that stays in a collector’s cabinet. But her designs reached people at the table, where they gather.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/31/arts/design/eva-zeisel-ceramic-artist-and-designer-dies-at-105.html

It’s not usual for me to feature an oil heiress on Feminist Friday, but I think you will be interested in Leah Hunt-Hendrix. She is the founder of Solidaire, a means by which the global 1% can fund grassroots community and protest movements. My many subscribers in the global 1% (advertisers take note) may also be interested in their site:

Leah wondered what her role in producing the sort of structural changes in society she had become convinced were necessary might be. She came to the conclusion that she needed to organize within her own community. In 2012, she cofounded the Solidaire Network, which she describes as “a way for people with a lot of privilege to find a role in the social movements of our time.”

http://www.avenuemagazine.com/leah-hunt-hendrix-on-taking-a-page-from-occupy-wall-street-with-solidaire/

Love,

Alex.