The 20 interior designers shaping the world's most beautiful spaces

At Wallpaper*, we live and breathe interiors, bringing you coverage of the world’s most beautiful spaces – from residential to commercial and everything in between. Over the years, we’ve built a black book of interior designers who feel most kindred to the Wallpaper* world: the most boundary-pushing talents shaping the landscape today.

There’s the cross-cultural refinement of André Fu and the theatrical, set-design sensibilities of David Rockwell. Ilse Crawford and Vincent Van Duysen champion a more tactile humanism, while Martin Brudnizki and Tatjana von Stein embrace opulent, art-filled maximalism. If bold colour is your thing, look to India Mahdavi, while Harry Nuriev blurs the boundaries between furniture, sculpture and object.

There is no single formula here. The list spans everything from pared-back minimalism to bold, era-spanning interiors, united by something less easily defined: a distinctive point of view.

Wallpaper’s favourite interior designers working today

André Fu

André Fu has built his reputation on a reciprocal dialogue between Eastern and Western design traditions, working across hospitality, residential, retail and cultural projects from his Hong Kong studio. The city’s Upper House and The St. Regis Hong Kong established Fu as a major player; since then, his portfolio has expanded to include The Fullerton Bay Hotel Singapore, Villa La Coste in Provence and The Berkeley in London.

Key projects: The Upper House (Hong Kong, 2009), The Fullerton Bay Hotel (Singapore, 2010), Waldorf Astoria Bangkok (Bangkok, 2018), The St. Regis Hong Kong (Hong Kong, 2019)

David Rockwell

For David Rockwell, every interior is a stage. His background in theatre design remains a major influence on the work of Rockwell Group, the practice he founded in 1984. Rockwell's spectacular sensibility runs through the Nobu restaurants and hotels, the W Hotels chain and The New York Edition, to name a few. Today, his 350-person practice works from New York, Los Angeles and Madrid.

Key projects: W New York – Union Square (New York, 2000), Nobu Fifty Seven (New York, 2005), Nobu Hotel Caesars Palace (Las Vegas, 2013), The New York Edition (New York, 2015)

Dimore Studio

Since 2003, Britt Moran and Emiliano Salci have been creating interiors that feel like film sets under the banner of Dimorestudio. In the spaces the studio creates, mid-century icons rub shoulders with vintage finds and custom pieces, while saturated colour and rich texture lend the work a certain emotion. The result – felt across homes, hotels and boutiques worldwide – is both nostalgic and cinematic.

Key projects: La Dolce Vita Orient Express (2025), Hotel Saint-Marc (Paris, 2014), Grand Hotel et de Milan redesign (Milan, 2014-2023)

Dorothée Meilichzon

Since founding her Paris studio, CHZON, in 2009, Dorothée Meilichzon has mined the history of each site she works on for cues, layering vintage furniture, custom textiles and bespoke lighting. Grand Pigalle Hotel and Hôtel des Grands Boulevards in the French capital and Henrietta Hotel in London number among the results.

Key projects: The Hoxton Paris (Paris, 2017), Henrietta Hotel (London, 2017), Hôtel des Grands Boulevards (Paris, 2018)

Francis Sultana

Francis Sultana's interiors are pure art, and often exist in conversation with it. From his London studio, he combines architecture and bespoke furniture with a collector's eye, working in materials such as bronze, crystal and straw marquetry and drawing heavily on 20th-century design, particularly art deco. His projects include Spencer House and National Trust commissions, as well as Hotel La Palma in Capri.

Key projects: The Hunting Lodge (Hampshire, 2021), Hotel La Palma (Capri, 2023)

Gwenael Nicolas

Two decades in Japan shaped Gwenael Nicolas’s design language, bridging Japanese spatial discipline with his native French flair. Since co-founding Curiosity in Tokyo in 1998, he has become one of the defining designers in luxury retail, deploying his signature use of geometry, light and tight material palettes for the likes of Dior, Fendi, Bulgari, Shiseido, Louis Vuitton and Issey Miyake.

Key projects: Louis Vuitton Ginza Namiki Dori (Tokyo, 2012), Dolce & Gabbana Aoyama (Tokyo, 2016), Ginza Six (Tokyo, 2017), Dolce & Gabbana Old Bond Street (London, 2017), Graff Flagship Store Tokyo (Tokyo, 2021)

Harry Nuriev

Harry Nuriev's practice, Crosby Studios, founded between Paris and New York in 2014, rests on his concept of ‘transformism’ – repositioning and repurposing everyday objects and industrial materials. Balenciaga, Nike, Gucci and Dover Street Market have all commissioned his work, and Maison&Objet named him Designer of the Year 2026.

Key projects: Crosby Studios Store/Moscow flagship (Moscow, 2021), Casetify flagship (Seoul, 2024), Noisy Oyster (London, 2025), Clive Christian flagship (London, 2026)

Ilse Crawford

After a publishing career that included founding the UK edition of Elle Decoration, Ilse Crawford established Studioilse in 2001, creating homes, hotels, restaurants and offices that consider how people actually occupy them, rather than just visual effect. Ett Hem in Stockholm and Soho House New York remain touchstones of that approach. Crawford also founded and led the 'Man and Wellbeing' department at Design Academy Eindhoven for two decades, helping define a more humanistic contemporary design.

Key projects: Soho House New York (New York, 2003), Cecconi’s (London, 2005), Ett Hem (Stockholm, 2012)

India Mahdavi

Colour is everything for India Mahdavi. From her Paris studio, founded in 2000, she has applied it liberally across architecture, interiors, furniture and scenography. The Pink Room at Sketch in London became an instant design landmark; the city’s Connaught Bar and Monégasque hotel Monte-Carlo Beach followed. More than two decades on, Rue Las Cases in Paris has evolved into a little Mahdavi universe, bringing together her studio, showroom and shop.

Key projects: Hôtel Thoumieux (Paris, 2010), The Gallery at Sketch (London, 2014), Connaught Bar (London, 2020)

Kelly Behun

After training under Andrée Putman and Philippe Starck at Ian Schrager Hotels' in-house studio – including work on the Delano Miami and Mondrian Los Angeles – Kelly Behun established her own New York practice. Bespoke furnishings, unexpected vintage pieces and environments that often feel closer to art installations than interiors have made her one of the leaders in the field.

Key projects: 432 Park Avenue (New York, 2015), 100 East 53rd Street (New York, 2015), One Wall Street (New York, 2020)

Kelly Wearstler

Through her Los Angeles practice, Kelly Wearstler has defined a distinctly Californian strain of maximalism: saturated colour, graphic pattern and vintage furniture brought together with contemporary art. The Avalon Hotel Beverly Hills established her standing in the design world, a reputation since carried into the Proper Hotels in San Francisco, Santa Monica, Austin and Downtown Los Angeles, as well as private residences, restaurants, furniture and textiles.

Key projects: BG Restaurant at Bergdorf Goodman (New York, 2012), San Francisco Proper (San Francisco, 2017), Santa Monica Proper (Santa Monica, 2019)

Marta de la Rica

At Marta de la Rica's Madrid studio, antiques and contemporary craftsmanship sit alongside European classicism, softened by the patina of lived-in objects. Founded in 2014, her practice has imbued this sensibility across projects such as Club de Mar Mallorca, where 1970s Mediterranean glamour meets vintage Riva references, and Cristine Bedfor hotel in Málaga.

Key projects: Cristine Bedfor (Málaga, 2025), Club de Mar (Mallorca, 2025)

Martin Brudnizki

Martin Brudnizki’s London studio, founded in 2000, has become one of the defining forces in maximalist hospitality. Its portfolio speaks for itself: Annabel’s, The Ivy and Sexy Fish each reveal a different facet of the same instinct for theatrical, layered interiors. Today, the practice comprises more than 100 designers, architects and art consultants.

Key projects: The Ivy (London, 2015), Sexy Fish (London, 2015), The Beekman (New York, 2016), Annabel’s (London, 2018)

Pamela Shamshiri

With her Iranian heritage woven throughout, Pamela Shamshiri designs spaces that feel lived in. Since founding Studio Shamshiri in 2016, she has brought a set designer's instinct for narrative to homes, hotels and boutiques – restoring architectural landmarks by the likes of A. Quincy Jones and Rudolph Schindler, and dressing New Orleans' Maison de la Luz.

Key projects: Rudolph Schindler Lechner House renovation (Los Angeles, 2016), Maison de la Luz (New Orleans, 2019), A. Quincy Jones Smalley House renovation (Los Angeles, 2022), Irene Neuwirth Madison Avenue (New York, 2023)

Patricia Urquiola

Patricia Urquiola was mentored by Achille Castiglioni before going on to establish Studio Urquiola with her partner Alberto Zontone in 2001, building a practice that moves between architecture, product design and art direction. Since 2015 she has also served as creative director of Cassina, while designing extensively for B&B Italia, Moroso and Kartell.

Key projects: Mandarin Oriental Barcelona (Barcelona, 2009), Das Stue (Berlin, 2012), Il Sereno (Lake Como, 2016), Room Mate Giulia (Milan, 2016)

Roman and Williams

Stephen Alesch and Robin Standefer met in film production design, and that cinematic instinct shines through in their New York practice, Roman and Williams, founded in 2002. From the Ace Hotel New York and The Standard High Line to the British Galleries at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the studio builds interiors around the tension between old and new, polished and rough, theatrical and intimate.

Key projects: Ace Hotel New York (New York, 2009), The Dutch (New York, 2011), Le Coucou (New York, 2016), La Mercerie (New York, 2017), Lafayette (New York, 2018)

Tatjana von Stein

At Tatjana von Stein's London studio, art deco and mid-century references meet rich materials and dramatic lighting to create spaces with atmosphere. The practice has become closely associated with London's members’ club and hospitality scene, and also has a foothold in the Balearics. In 2023, von Stein also launched ‘Mise en Scène’, a collection of design objects and collectibles made with French artisans.

Key projects: Hotel Corazón (Mallorca, 2025), Làlia Social Club (Mallorca, 2022), 60 Curzon (London, 2025)

Taska Cleveland

Taska Cleveland's interiors are subtle, allowing architecture to be the protagonist. After working at Commune Design and serving as artistic director of Studio Shamshiri, she established her own Los Angeles studio, focusing on historic renovations and ground-up residential projects. A respect for existing structures define the work – exemplified by her restoration of Rudolph Schindler's How House and Frank Lloyd Wright's Taggart House.

Key projects: Taggart House renovation (Los Angeles, 2025), How House renovation (Los Angeles, 2026)

Vincent Van Duysen

Stone, timber, plaster and linen form the pared-back material vocabulary of Vincent Van Duysen, whose Antwerp practice has, since 1989, blurred the boundaries between architecture, interiors and product design. Hotel August in Antwerp, The Greenwich Hotel in New York and Casa M in Portugal exemplify his instinct for tactile restraint. Since 2016, Van Duysen has also served as creative director of Molteni&C.

Key projects: The Greenwich Hotel (New York, 2009), Molteni&C flagship (New York, 2016), Hotel August (Antwerp, 2019)

Yabu Pushelberg

George Yabu and Glenn Pushelberg have built a practice that can't be reduced to a single aesthetic. Interiors, architecture, branding, hospitality and retail move fluidly through their work, which includes landmark projects such as the W New York, Four Seasons Marunouchi Tokyo, Park Hyatt New York and Bangkok, and The London and Miami Beach Editions, alongside a longstanding association with Aman.

Key projects: Four Seasons Marunouchi Tokyo (Tokyo, 2002), The London Edition (London, 2013), Park Hyatt Bangkok (Bangkok, 2017), The Londoner (London, 2021)