Cini Boeri | After graduating from Milan Polytechnic in 1951, Boeri collaborated with the Italian designer Marco Zanuso for years before setting up her own studio in 1963. Focusing on the functionality of the home, she became known for her innovative lounge systems — adjustable sectionals that could be easily moved to accommodate conversation. Boeri designed her third lounge system for Knoll in 2008, featuring seating and ottomans on castors to allow for flexibility and rearranging. Shapton was inspired to paint her 1972 “Strips” collection, a set of cubic quilted armchairs and sofas. “I found this page in a catalog, and I love her sketch of the grid at the bottom,” she says. “I wanted to flesh that out. My sketch is a fluffy abstraction of her plan view of that chair. I love seeing stuff exploded like that.”
One day this spring, Rachel Comey and Leanne Shapton were having lunch when it occurred to them that there was a blind spot in their knowledge of midcentury furniture designers: women. Comey, a fashion designer, was looking for chairs for her new store in L.A. She wanted something designed by a woman — which turned out to be a tall order. On a whim, they went to a few nearby furniture dealers in NoLIta. “We were like, ‘What have you got by women?” Shapton recalls. “And they were like: nothing.”