CDN marks International Women’s Day

Car design, like many ‘serious’ creative disciplines, has historically been a male-dominated industry. Progress towards a more equal gender split has not matched the velocity of the product itself. Nevertheless, there are some incredibly talented women designers working today. Think of Cadillac’s interior design director Crystal Windham or Nissan’s senior manager of design Michelle Christensen. Or, if you are feeling nostalgic, look back to the 1950s and Ruth Glennie’s Fancy Free Corvette, which set the scene for a new wave of female talent to exert their influence. Car Design News celebrates women designers from past and present to mark International Women’s Day.

The Damsels of Design

A ways back in the 1950s, GM carried out a piece of research that showed women were often the decision makers when it came to buying a car. Cue panic in the boardroom. The solution that design kingpin Harley Earl came up with was to recruit a team of nine women designers who would help the company how to make their brand more appealing to the female consumer. Most notable of the nine ’Damsels of Design’ was Ruth Glennie who re-imagined the interior of a Corvette – this was the 50s so she was prevented from touching the exterior – to great acclaim. More on the damsels here.

Anne Asensio

While the early forays by women in the world of car design owed much to the patrician approach, these moments paved the way for a new wave of designers. Few have more impressive résumé’s that Anne Asensio. Currently head of design at Dassault Systèmes, Asensio was executive design director at GM for the best part of a decade. Here we celebrate the Renault Scenic concept, the Asensio-designed car that invented the MPV genre.

Michelle Christensen

Christensen is senior manager of design at Nissan but she grew up embedded in the hotrod culture of California. These early experiences formed a life-long love affair with car design. Christensen worked for Japanese automaker Honda/Acura and was lead designer on the second generation NSX.

Crystal Windham

Few can match the passion of Cadillac’s interior design director Crystal Windham. Profiled in Car Design Review 7 in 2020, Windham was the mastermind behind the polished and thoughtful interior of the Lyriq and spoke about it at length at Car Design Dialogues virtual event. She is one of the most influential figures in car design working today.