| Lori Weitzner | |
| Nationality: | American |
| Alma Mater: | Syracuse University |
| Occupation: | textile design, product design, author |
Lori Weitzner is an American textile and product designer. She is the founder and Creative Director of Lori Weitzner Design, Inc., a New-York-based design studio, and the head of the Weitzner Limited brand.[1] [2] [3] She has a jewelry and accessory collection under the brand Lori Weitzner[4] launched in 2019 and is the author of Ode to Color, The Ten Essential Palettes for Living and Design[5] published by HarperCollins.[6] [7]
Weitzner studied design at Syracuse University and earned a BFA in Textiles.[8] After graduating in 1983 she traveled to Europe where she worked as a freelance designer selling to Italian and Swiss fabric makers such as Missoni and Boller Winkler / Schlossberg. Afterward she returned to New York where she did packaging design for Estée Lauder, Elizabeth Arden and Calvin Klein; product design for Dansk, Rosenthal, Marcel Schurman and Johnson & Johnson; display design for Saks Fifth Avenue, Barneys and Florian Papp; and environmental designs for Lufthansa, amongst others.[9] [10]
In 1993 she began working for world-renowned textile designer Jack Lenor Larsen. With Larsen, Weitzner was given the opportunity to create independently-designed collections that bore her name. Their collaboration produced many celebrated designs, a lot of which are now housed in museums worldwide. In 2007 the Minneapolis Institute of Art honored the pair with a special exhibition under the title "The Jack Lenor Larsen Studio Part II, The Lori Weitzner Years 1992–1995".[8] [10]
In 2000 she began designing fabric for Sahco Hesslein, becoming the first woman and the first American to design for the renowned German textile manufacturer.[8] [9] In 2004 she launched Weitzner Limited, an innovative wall covering company known for combining modern techniques with unconventional materials.[1] [8] [10] Some notable wallpapers include "Newsworthy," made from 100% upcycled newspapers hand-woven together with nylon thread in a similar technique used with grass cloth and finished with a water-based topcoat,[11] [12] "Quarry," made out of super-thin layers of actual rock; and "Magnetism," a wallpaper coated in magnetic minerals.[13] In 2011 Weitzner Limited entered a merger agreement with Pollack Associates, a New York-based textile design company whose founders, like Weitzner, are alumni of Jack Lenor Larsen's studio. When expanded the collection to include fabric.[14] [15]
Weitzner's products grace celebrity homes including those of Julianne Moore, Will Ferrell, and Beyoncé, and often appear as costumes and sets for movies such as Gangs of New York, Mission: Impossible and Money Monster. Her designs are also used in such eponymous commercial spaces as Google, Saks Fifth Avenue and Wynn Hotels.[8]
Additionally, Weitzner designs collections for other product categories: passmenterie for Samuel and Sons,[16] rugs for Perennials[17] and West Elm,[18] window shades for Hunter Douglas, candles for L'or De Seraphine, tile and stone for Artistic Tile, gifts, journals and greeting cards for American Greetings.[19] [20] [21]
In November 2018 she launched her first "textile-infused" jewelry and accessory line under her own name.[22]
In 2019 Weitzner released Ode to Color: The Ten Essential Palettes of Living and Design. Weitzner shares her unique perspective on the uses and significance of color in design.[23] [24]
Weitzner's work belongs to the permanent collections of such museums as Cooper Hewitt, Musee des Arts Decorates, the Museum of Architecture and Design, and London's Victoria and Albert Museum, among others.[25] [26] She is the recipient of over 25 design awards, including several Best of the Year awards from Interior Design Magazine and a nomination for a Chrysler Design Award.[27] [28]