Little Wing Lee has been selected as the winner of the 2022 Female Design Council + NICOLEHOLLIS Grant.
The Female Design Council + NICOLEHOLLIS Grant awards one $15,000 USD financial grant to a BIPOC, female-identified led interior designer or architect based in the United States. The grant is intended to provide the necessary financial support to expand company size and/or produce new design collections. The grant winner also receives professional mentorship from the NICOLEHOLLIS team.
Grant winner Little Wing Lee is an interior designer who has worked with some of the most renowned and inventive design firms, including SOM, Rockwell Group, Ralph Appelbaum Associates, APPARATUS and Ace Hotel Group/Atelier Ace – where she currently holds the position of Design Director. In 2019, she started her own interior design practice, Studio & Projects. She also publicly launched Black Folks in Design, an organization whose mission is to bring awareness to and promote the cultural contributions, excellence, and importance of Black designers.
Recent projects by Little Wing Lee include Harlem's National Black Theatre and Bar Bête in Brooklyn. Images courtesy Female Design Council + NICOLEHOLLIS Grant.
The five honorees are Anne Dereaux of Dereaux Studio, Chopp Stewart of Florida Water Interiors, Laura Casanas Maya, Teruko Kushi and Urvi Sharma of INDO. Honorees will receive public recognition of their talent from FDC and NICOLEHOLLIS, as well as a complimentary FDC membership for one year, and direct access to the FDC Mentor Match program.
A jury of design professionals was led by Nicole Hollis and FDC Founder, Lora Appleton. Additional jury members included Tiana Webb Evans, Founder of ESP Group, Jamaica Art Society and Yard Concept; Michael K. Chen, Founder of MKCA and Co-founder of Design Advocates; Alison Levasseur, Global Interiors & Garden Editor of Architectural Digest; Nina Cooke John, Founder of Studio Cooke John.