Creative Women’s Quotes That Inspire

We live in a society where women and girls are constantly pressured to be perfect. These negatives can lead many down an unhealthy path of self-doubt and can prevent them from pursuing their creative passions.

But our girls can push back by learning the stories of women who came before and overcame hardships. The online marketplace site 1stDibs designed the following graphics to celebrate female creators and innovators that inspire everyone to follow their dreams and do what makes them happy.

Creative Women’s Quotes That Inspire

Zaha Hadid

Zaha Hadid was an innovative architect who created beautiful and impossible-looking curvy and geometric buildings. Not only did she help transform modern design, but she was also a fierce advocate for women in the field of architecture.

Florence Knoll

Florence Knoll attention to detail, eye for proportion, and command of the modern aesthetic resulted in some of the most celebrated furniture of the modern era.

Diane Von Fürstenberg

Diane Von Fürstenberg started her career in the fashion scene as a model before discovering an interest in the design sector of the fashion industry. Initially, she produced basics (t-shirts, shirt dresses) and the two pieces responsible for the wrap dress—a wrap top with a matching skirt. The wrap dress debuted in 1974; by 1976, the dress had sold millions.

Maya Lin

Maya Lin is known for her large-scale environmental artworks, her architectural works, and her memorial designs. In her book Boundaries, she writes, “I see myself existing between boundaries, a place where opposites meet; science and art, art and architecture, East and West. My work originates from a simple desire to make people aware of their surroundings.”

Elsa Peretti

Elsa Peretti went from Halston model and Studio 54 regular in the 1960s and ’70s to one of the world’s most famous jewelry designers. Her timeless pieces for Tiffany & Co. collections were often inspired by nature.

Cindy Sherman

Cindy Sherman has probed identity construction for four decades, playing with the visual and cultural codes of art, celebrity, gender, and photography.

Eileen Gray

Eileen Gray was a pioneer who carved out space in the world of Modernism. After finding success as a furniture designer, she turned to architecture. With no formal training, she created iconic buildings. Her most famous work is the house known as E-1027 in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France.

Helen Frankenthaler

Helen Frankenthaler’s career spanned six decades. Through her invention of the soak-stain technique, she expanded the possibilities of abstract painting while referencing figuration and landscape in unique ways.

Rei Kawakubo

Rei Kawakubo is a self-taught Japanese fashion designer. She is known for her avant-garde clothing designs and the high-fashion label Comme des Garçons (CDG).

Elizabeth Catlett

Elizabeth Catlett produced an unparalleled body of politically charged and aesthetically compelling graphic and sculptural images. Her work is grounded in what she regarded as the historically based necessity to render visible that which had not been the subject of art.

Frida Kahlo

Frida Kahlo is remembered for her self-portraits, pain and passion, and bold, vibrant colors. She is celebrated in Mexico for her attention to Mexican and indigenous culture.

Contributed by Hana Rehman with graphics created by 1stDibs