Lora Appleton
Lora Appleton, founder of kinder MODERN and the Female Design Council,
is a leading voice in New York City design, paving the way for designers and makers with her meticulous design vision, nuanced collections, and curatorial leadership. Under her guidance, kinder MODERN has grown from an entrepreneurial gallery into a robust design authority, offering a full range of collections, from the epicenter of the home to commercial and educational projects. kinder MODERN pieces are also on view in the Brooklyn Museum’s permanent collection and in a number of prominent private collections.
Appleton is also the principal designer at studiokinder, her in-house design studio, designing and producing sophisticated, functional, furniture, rugs, and spaces for children of all ages. Appleton’s acute ability to identify exceptional pieces and emerging talent has enabled her to cultivate and produce kinder MODERN's unparalleled eclectic furniture offerings from an international roster of established and burgeoning designers, while also executing vigorous programming, including in-house exhibitions and offsite collaborations with revered and innovative institutions such as the Milwaukee Art Museum, Prelude to The Shed, the Brooklyn Museum, and more.
In 2017 Appleton founded the Female Design Council, an action-oriented membership organization dedicated to supporting women in the field of design. The FDC was created to provide professional support, guidance, and mentorship, while fostering dialogue and spurring action on the issues facing women in a predominantly male industry. During NYCxDESIGN 2018, alongside Egg Collective, Appleton co-curated Designing Women II: Masters, Mavericks, and Mavens, an FDC-supported exhibition showcasing contemporary and vintage pieces by female designers from around the world to great success. She followed up with an applauded all female, master maker exhibition, Deeper than Text, with 1stDibs at the brand new 1stDibs Gallery during NYCxDesign this past May.
Appleton continues to lead the conversation about the importance of thoughtful and practical design in the family home, communicating with women, families, educators, collectors, and designers through a variety of mediums and platforms. She has participated in a variety of panel conversations with partners including Brooklyn Museum, Tefaf, AAF, 92nd St Y, AD Design Show and more. Her work has been recognized in Architectural Digest, DAMNº Magazine, Dezeen, Domus, Elle Décor, Interior Design, The New York Times, New York Post, Vogue, The Wall Street Journal, and Wallpaper* Magazine, among others.
She resides in Manhattan with her son, who continues to be her muse.