Meet Sunset’s Emerging Designers of the West
Meet the makers, craftspeople, designers, and artists making the West a more beautiful place.
Thomas J. Story
Welcome to Sunset’s first annual Emerging Designers of the West, a celebration of the people pushing design forward in architecture, crafts, furniture, and home decor. For well over a century, Sunset has given readers the freshest and most inspiring home design ideas: we’ve covered the birth and rebirth of mid-century modernism, tracked color trends, touted tiny homes, and predicted prefab. This award is the evolution of that mission, and a way to honor the people who are changing the way we live today.
For our inaugural awards we’re focusing on California, where makers and seekers have long headed to experiment and create. That spirit is embodied by designers Ray and Charles Eames who road-tripped to California for their honeymoon after getting married in Chicago in 1941. It was in their L.A. apartment kitchen that the couple began experimenting with bending plywood, which birthed the iconic LCW chair and Eames Lounge Chair. What started as an idea in a Los Angeles kitchen turned into some of the most important furniture in America’s history. Or take Cliff May, the designer of Sunset’s first editorial campus and father of the modern ranch house, an architectural style that continues to be constructed around the country. These innovations were born of Californian innovation and continue to have an impact on how we live. Here are the designers carrying that tradition forward today.
Meet the 2020 Class
Entler Studio
Stephen Kamafuji
Name: Jonathan Entler of Entler Studio
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Type of work: Ceramic lighting designer
Established: 2015
Based out of: Los Angeles
Read More: Designer Jonathan Entler’s Ceramic Lighting Is Like Nothing We’ve Seen Before
Concrete Collaborative
Stephen Kamafuji
Name: Concrete Collaborative
Type of work: Family-run concrete and terrazzo tile company
Established: 2004
Based out of: San Clemente, California
Read More: Concrete Collaborative’s Tiles Are Taking the West—And the World—By Storm
Noz Design
Stephen Kamafuji
Name: Noz Nozawa of Noz Design
Type of work: Interior designer
Established: 2014
Based out of: San Francisco
Read More: Interior Designer Noz Nozawa Is Becoming the Queen of Colorful Interiors
Elworthy Studio
Stephen Kamafuji
Name: Kate Miller of Elworthy Studio
Type of work: Wallpaper and textile designer
Established: 2015
Based out of: Half Moon Bay
Read More: Designer Kate Miller On Why Non-Toxic Textiles Are So Important For Your Home
And And And Studio
Stephen Kamafuji
Name: Annie Ritz and Daniel Rabin of And And And Studio
Type of work: Architects
Established: 2017
Based out of: Los Angeles
Read More: Architects Annie Ritz and Daniel Rabin on How to Do an Architecture Project on a Budget
Sara Bendrick
Stephen Kamafuji
Name: Sara Bendrick of Sarita Landscape Design
Type of work: Landscape contractor and and designer
Established: 2012
Based out of: San Diego
Read More: Easy Ways to Add Value to Your Yard, According To a Landscape Designer Sara Bendrick
Taylor Donsker
Stephen Kamafuji
Name: Taylor Donsker
Type of work: Woodworker
Established: 2012
Based out of: Santa Monica
Read More: The Most Innovative Woodworker in California is Taylor Donsker
Angel City Lumber
Stephen Kamafuji
Name: Angel City Lumber (Todd Cooper, Charles DeRosa, Jeff Perry, and Brady Zaitoon)
Type of work: Salvaged lumber from fallen Los Angeles trees
Established: 2015
Based out of: Los Angeles
Read More: Angel City Lumber Company Creates Reclaimed Lumber From Fallen Los Angeles Trees
Sheldon Ceramics
Stephen Kamafuji
Name: Peter Sheldon of Sheldon Ceramics
Type of work: Ceramist
Established: 2014
Based out of: Los Angeles
Read More: A Ceramicist’s Tips on Choosing Your Perfect Ceramics
Stefan Bishop
Stephen Kamafuji
Name: Stefan Bishop
Type of work: Experimental artist and designer
Established: 2012
Based out of: Los Angeles
Read More: When Furniture Is Art: How This Furniture Designer Goes Experimental
The Design Advisory Board
Sunset tapped several outstanding luminaries in California’s architectural and design community to select the next wave of noteworthy designers.
Founder Burdge Architects, owner Buhaus Built
Sally Breer & Jake Rodehuth-Harrison
Cofounders of interior design firm ETC.etera, interior designers of the 2019 Sunset Idea House
Interior designer on HGTV’s “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition”
Principal of interior design firm Veneer Designs
Principal of interior design firm Catherine Kwong Design
Principal of interior design firm Regan Baker Design
Furniture designer
Interior designer and cofounder of M. Elle Designs
