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Industrial designer Stephen Burks on furniture, race and change

from Business of Home

Industrial designer Stephen Burks on furniture, race and change Business of Home Recently, Business of Home published an article outlining research done by designer and data scientist Jomo Tariku that uncovered a stark lack of diversity in the world of high-end furniture. Tariku's method was simple: He went to the websites of major furniture companies and counted the number of Black people he saw. The results? Of 4,417 collaborations, only 14 of them were with Black designers. Three of those were with Stephen Burks. Burks, a Chicago native who rose to prominence in the early aughts on the strength of collections with Cappellini and Missoni, is largely recognized as the first African American designer to break into the mostly white, mostly European ranks of international furniture design. READ MORE

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