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Arlyn’s Love Letter to Latin American Designers & Creatives (Well…Sort Of)
Since January 20, 2025—though really, since the morning of November 6, 2024—I’ve felt a heavy weight on my heart as someone of Latino heritage. I’ve always felt like an American. I was born in Florida and with the exception of about a year and a half where my family lived in Puerto Rico when I was a toddler, the United States has been my home. My parents have lived in the States since the early 1980s, and my maternal great-grandmother and great-grandfather lived in South Florida since my mother was a teenager. While being of Puerto Rican descent grants you automatic citizenship whether you’re born on the island or on the mainland, people and systems in this country are quick to “other” you regardless.
After seeing the onslaught of undocumented immigrants being coraled and booted (most of which were Latino, by the way, as if there aren’t other undocumented immigrants in the US), I just felt sad. Children being taken from schools, especially, just feels sacrilegious. I’m not saying that anyone from anywhere can take up camp in America undocumented, but seeing people that look like my father, my brother, myself being hauled away and memes about the chains of the detainees being used as “ASMR” coming out of the WHITE HOUSE Instagram account just felt so gross.
Sitting in my feels, I texted Jess with a post idea. “What if I write a love letter to Latin American designers and artisans?” “YES!” She replied nearly instantly. My idea was a narrative change of all the negativity of the news; deportation this, ICE that. Knowing that my own parents, American citizens since birth, didn’t feel comfortable leaving their house without their passports—just in case—is A LOT. One whisper of a Spanish accent is all it takes in some places to feel unsafe these days.
For anyone reading with an uncomfortable feeling forming in their stomachs and “Why are we getting political on a design blog” materializing in their heads/mouths/fingers, let me be clear: I’m not making a political statement here by leaning into my ethnicity to explore design. But for the record, and I’ll say it loud for the people in the back (who have their noise-canceling headphones on), BEING BROWN HAS ALWAYS BEEN POLITICAL. We can’t help but be politicized constantly, so I won’t apologize for existing OR writing about being brown in design even if you perceive it as a political statement. So, let’s keep moving forward.
Once I got my green light from Jess on the topic, I got to work. I sat. I pondered. Who were my favorite Latin designers, architects, creatives? Surely I could dig around all my bookmarks and identify the work of some? But my brain was foggy, and my feeds empty. How could it be that I…didn’t know any? Surely I knew someone considering I’ve written a few articles on the very topic during Hispanic Heritage Month in recent years—the only time any publication bothers to cover us with gusto. Checking their box. “Look! We wrote about brown people. Good for us.” I can rattle off the names of at least 30 designers and makers, none of which are Latin American. A few names finally emerged for me after a deep dive in my Pinterest boards and social bookmarks (yes, people like Orlando Soria or even Marco Zamora), but I gotta be honest, I was pretty disappointed in myself. Do I not know my people at all? Or is something else going on here? (Both, I think.)
Out of curiosity, I did a search on Google (which, btw, has recently removed all ethnicity- and race-based holidays from our calendars) to see if I could find some demographics for designers and architects. According to the IIDA (International Interior Design Association), “73% of designers across all disciplines in the US identify as white (non-Hispanic), despite comprising only 60.1% of the population at large, per Census Bureau stats. Black people account for 13.4% of the general population but only 5% of designers and 18.4% of U.S. residents who identify as Hispanic represent only 3% of designers.”
Three. Percent.
Three….
Percent.
I’m not using this as an excuse for being unaware of Latino representation in the field I have known and loved for nearly 15 years. But three percent is a shockingly low number. I could write a dissertation on why I think this is. I wouldn’t be the first. That’s not my focus today, though.
I’ve been in the design world for a decent chunk of the four decades I’ve graced this Earth. And throughout all that time, I’ve so often been the outsider. At trade shows. At industry events and intimate dinners. And I’m not just talking about in the US. I’ve traveled to numerous countries and continents in the name of design, and nearly every time, without fail, I’m the only Latin person in the room (the closest I got to some semblance of “sameness” was when I was in Spain, but Spaniards are not considered Latino as the term is specific to those from Central and South America as well as Spanish-speaking islands in the Caribbean, BTW).
And clearly, maybe I’m part of the problem. It’s not like I couldn’t name artists and creatives of my same background that inspired me. In my family alone, there are five designers of varying disciplines: My uncle is a fairly renowned shoe designer, my cousin is a jewelry designer, my other cousin is a painter, and yet another cousin is a landscape architect. My aunt was at one point in time an interior designer. And then there’s me.
This is part of why I didn’t change my name when I got married. Arlyn Shaw could be anyone. Any ethnicity. But Arlyn Hernandez is clear. I’m a Latina. And I prefer for people to know that outright. Maybe to inspire, or maybe to stand out in a sea of non-Latin names and faces. But I wear my last name like a badge of honor these days, and no one, not even my husband, can take that away from me (he would never, for the record).
Of course, there are plenty of Spanish, Hispanic, and Latin designers and architects in this world. There are entire editions of Architectural Digest that come out of Spain as well as Mexico and Latin America. They exist, and man are they good. If you’ve ever perused the projects from these parts of the world, both in residential design and hospitality or commercial, you can feel the heart. But for the sake of today’s post, on creating a “love letter” to Latin American designers, creatives, and creators, I’m focused on people from this country specifically. And at first mental dive, I came up short.
There’s a chance that I’m unclear on the background of people, and perhaps I’d have a longer love list if I were aware. After all, no one is obligated to write out I’M MEXICAN or MY PARENTS IMMIGRATED FROM CUBA on their professional bio for their design firms. I’ve been asked to write many bios for myself, and I can recall maybe a single time where I included anything about my Puerto Rican heritage. White American people don’t have to confirm their nationality on their websites, so in theory, why do we? It’s our right to include; it’s our right to exclude.
All of that said, I spent the last week digging up some of that 3% to share with you here today. To celebrate, rather. Some are artists. Some are interior designers and architects. Some are product designers or heads of brands. And if this exercise taught me anything, it’s that I need to do my part as a design writer and editor to be more aware of Latin American creatives in my field; to dive deeper and find them, cheerlead them, share them in my work. Which I’ll start doing…right now.
Studio Galeón
Studio Galeón is a women-led firm out of New York helmed by Lucia Galeón, who was born and raised in Patagonia, Argentina. The image above is from the Petunia Hotel in Ibiza, Spain, and just such a beautiful mix of natural texture and splashes of color in just the right places. On the complete flip side of this is the kaleidescope-like Susan Alexandra boutique in Soho, which is a study in simple tiles making a huge impact.
Erick Garcia of Maison Trouvaille
Erick Garcia is a Mexico-born, Los Angeles-raised designer who runs Maison Trouvaille. He’s a favorite of people like Jen Atkins (Hollywood hair guru and founder of Ouai), and recently designed the headquarters of Rhode, Hailey Beiber’s beauty brand.
Tricia Benitez Beanum of Pop Up Home
I’ve known of Tricia for years, being a good friend of EHD alum Michael Keck. She runs vintage retailer/communal retail market Pop Up Home and has the most effortlessly cool style. She picks the kinds of things I wish I had the eye for, and puts things together in a way that I wish I had the eye for. So, in general, this Los Angeles-based Puerto Rican just has such a good eye. Ha!
Casa Verónica
A self-labeled Chicana, I just love the ceramic works of Veronica Ortuño. She started as an interior designer but later expanded into pottery, tilework and things like ceramic lamps, and then glassware. Her work has such a beautiful visual hand in it, and so much heart.
Alfredo Paredes
First generation Cuban American Alfredo Paredes has impecable taste. You kind of have to if you worked for Ralph Lauren for three decades, ending up as Executive Vice President and Chief Creative Officer. He now runs his gorgeous firm (based in New York), which works on hospitality, retail, and residential.
Carlos Mota
The work of Carlos Mota, a Venezuelan-born designer based in New York, is homey, eclectic yet sharp. As someone who was the international style editor for Architectural Digest and editor-at-large for Elle Decor, you just know his veins are full of style. I find myself fairly in love with some of the textiles and how he somehow makes something like an ivy print (which takes me straight back to the early ’90s) look impossibly chic. You can shop his catalog of linens and tableware at his online shop Casa Mota.
Maye Ruiz
Okay so Maye Ruiz technically works out of Mexico, so while she’s not American, I just love her design POV. It’s unapologetic, bold in a very calculated way, and impossibly cool. If you’ve ever been tempted to design with red but don’t really know where to start, well…start here.
Christina Alvarez of Curio Interior Design
I first saw the work of Christina Alvarez in a project of hers that was published in AD Clever. The Cuban American designer runs Curio Interior Design, and I love how she’s able to mix rich, vibrant textiles and art with beautiful and modern furnishings and accessories.
Gabo Martinez
“I am Mexican. All of me. I was made of the blood and the dirt of this country. Therefore I am this country.” What a wildly cool thought; I just love Gabo Martinez’s authenticity and love of her ethnicity. Her ceramics and pottery are vibrant, rooted, and fresh. I’d truly love to own one of her pieces one of these days.
Alexander Diaz of Atra Form Studio
There are some people or brands you follow that you know you likely will never have in your home, but it’s just cool to study and look at. Atra Form Studio is one of those. Created by Alexander Diaz (who is of Swedish-Mexican descent), the furniture and interiors studio has its roots in Mexico City, but it also takes up space in New York as well as Milan.
Cisco Home
Cisco Pinedo, a Mexican-born furniture designer and builder, was the absolute heart of furniture brand Cisco Home until he passed away last year. Anytime I visited their showrooms when I popped into High Point, North Carolina, they treated me with the utmost of care. Like family, honestly. Cisco Home’s upholstery pieces are a go-to favorite for designers because they are well-made and beautiful, so be sure to check them out if you’re on the market for some new seating.
Materia Madura
This one is seriously cool. Ana Cristina Quiñones is a Puerto Rican designer specializing in materials, products, and furniture with a sustainable focus. Her waste-based materials and surfaces look like cool terrazo, but are actually derived from raw materials such as coffee waste, plantain waste, bread waste, wood waste, metal waste, textile waste, and glass waste. On top of that, these centerpiece bowls are so beautiful, serene, and simple.
José E. Solís Betancourt of Solis Betancourt Sherrill
And lastly, rounding out the pack from another Puerto Rican. José E. Solís Betancourt of Solis Betancourt Sherrill creates some very posh homes, and the firm’s work has been featured time over time in all the heavy hitters (AD, House Beautiful, The NYT, etc. etc. etc.).
—
Thank you friends for being here today, and letting me have a moment with myself, my heritage, and how it intersects with interior design in this country. It’s not easy to be vulnerable like this, much easier to hide behind talking about my favorite wallpaper picks or color trends, but it’s important to me to be authentic, and this is who I am. I hope you found some new people today to admire and research, or at the very least, learned something about someone different than you.
Until next time…
Opening image credits: Design by Arlyn Hernandez | Photo by Sara Ligorria-Tramp | From: Arlyn’s Happy & Bright Living Room Reveal
Great post Arlyn, and a lot of great talent to discover!
thank you for sharing your thoughts in such an interesting and vulnerable way.
Oh my goodness thank you, Arlyn. I am not a person of color but this is so important. The message and reminder is so important. I understand people come here to read about design and some may not want to see this here. I disagree. What is happening here, in our country, is more than political. It’s immoral. Right and wrong still exist in the US. I am glad to see this here. Thank you!
Thank you for your words Mandy! They mean alot. And yes…immoral is the kind way of putting it.
This is why I stick around on this blog. Unique perspectives and voices, and writers who are unapologetically themselves. My mind was expanded by this post. That’s the whole
point of reading anything! Beautiful samples of work here. Thank you, Arlyn.
Thank you Sarah!
If I can, I’d like to add Franca, co-founded by Jazmin de la Guardia “born in Paraguay and growing up with a mother from Uruguay and a father from Cuba….” Their pottery studio is based in Brookkyn and I love their modern and graphic designs. Not something you typically find on a vase or morning mug of coffee :-)
OMG this is gorgeous. Thank you for adding!
This is such a great round up, thank you so much!
Great post! So refreshing and inspiring to see some different design! I applaud E. Henderson and team for not hiding during this this time when standing up for diversity can sadly be so risky.
Really appreciated this list! Thanks for compiling :)
Thank you for sharing these new-to-me designers. I’m loving clicking thru their work. It’s refreshing!
Erick Garcia has a fun YouTube series with AD designing celebrity homes that I recommend.
Oh I’ll have to check it out. Thank you Stassi!
Thank you for writing this post and allowing yourself some vulnerability. There is so much artistic and beautiful work represented here and thank you for highlighting it!
What I think is interesting, and kind of a shame, is that there seem to be lots of designers who work in homages to Latino design and culture and rarely give credit where it is due. But such vibrant cultures and dramatic landscapes, from such a huge part of the world, can’t and shouldn’t be ignored.
Thank you for saying this! YES. I feel like I’ve been seeing this so much with Mexican designs and heritage, which is so abundant and rich and gorgeous, but taken by many who had no claim to it.
Thanks for this post, I am glad this blog commits to its values and doesn´t keep quiet in order not to lose followers. I find this true about many other bloggers/designers. Latin americans are very creative and talented people.
We sure are. :)
Honestly this made me kind of emotional. I am the granddaughter of a Mexican American woman and know how much I am losing my connection to that heritage now that my grandmother is passed. Thanks for sharing today ❤️
I totally agree. I feel so much more removed from my heritage than my parents, and struggle to figure out how to get my daughter to feel connected to Puerto Rico being that much further from it than me.
Arlyn, thank you for sharing, I did learn today, and that is important. Just as important, I felt.
I love this post and Arlyn so much! Thank you, Arlyn!
<3
Thank you Arlyn for this beautiful and important article ❤️ and for sharing these incredibly talented artists. That shot from Petunia Hotel literally made me gasp. It’s so soothing and rich all at once.
Right?!?
This was refreshing. I’d like to see more posts like this showing works of under represented groups.
The Carlos Mota design just jumped off the screen at me. New people to follow and be inspired by!
Thank you so much for this post, Arlyn! Such an inspiring and important list!!
Thanks for sharing a great list and meaningful reflections on your own experience, Arlyn. Always love reading your writing.
That said, I was surprised to see you use the term “illegal immigrant” and suggest you reconsider that phrase.
From the post linked below, “The Associated Press Stylebook has long discouraged the use of the word ‘illegal’ to describe a person, because only an action can be illegal.” AP stopped using the term “illegal immigrant” in 2013.
I found the two links below helpful in thinking about word choice around this issue.
Thank you. You’re absolutely right. We’ve updated this in the article.
Thank you for being so vulnerable, Arlyn, and for sharing your journey with us. You articulate your internal struggle so clearly, and I really appreciate your perspective. These designers are so talented!
Thank you, Arlyn! Always enjoy your posts, and this one is excellent.
Yes!!! I LOVE this post and how you channeled current dark and dire feelings into something proud and celebratory!! So needed right now, thank you <3 <3 <3 <3
Found some new folks to follow on IG – thank you!
Thank you for showing us these beautiful designs. I very much appreciate your willingness to be vulnerable. Life is political, and that includes design. Thanks again for this post.
Great post. Putting aside the political and human perspective for just one minute, is the incredible richness that diffèrent backgrounds bring to interiors. To this day, one of my favourite and most inspiring posts was the reworked living room of Sarah’s parents. I just loved the colours and Guatemalan textiles, and it motivated me highly when I made the long trek (from Western Australia) to Mexico and bought many beautiful things myself. Likewise, I’ve returned from two weeks in India a couple of days ago and the colours and fabrics and crafts are out of this world. Not only are there beautiful things every which way you turn but you realise that so much of what is ‘familiar’ and even ubiquitous today in Western interiors comes from India, in terms of patterns and motifs. Amazing. I know I’ve gone a bit off Arlene’s point but I think I’m saying that the more we acknowledge and respect and enjoy the artistic expression of different traditions, including in interiors, the less fearful we may be of each other. Thanks for sharing Arlene!! PS US mass deportation of plane load of illegal Indian immigrants was a hot story and highly debated topic in… Read more »
Reminder: Puerto Rico IS a part of the United States! Great article.
It sure is, though so often overlooked. Sadly.
Thanks for being honest, both in regards to your politics and in your own lack of knowledge about Latin American designers. As the month has worn on, I’ve come to this blog daily wondering when politics would enter the conversation. We all have to stand up for what we believe in. Thanks for sharing so many fantastic makers and designers, and for opening your heart and mind for us readers. In particular, the work of Studio Galeón, Maya Ruiz, and Carlos Mota make my heart sing.
I am a long time reader but have never commented before. Not only was this an amazing article and I can’t say how much I enjoyed learning about these designers but I also really appreciate your willingness to share your values openly in a time where there might be a cost. Thank you to everyone who works on this amazing content for being so authentic, something that I think is missing in our world right now.
Thank you for being here today!
I really enjoyed this post. Thank you!
YES this is how we fight back! Let me chime in and shout out Rebecca Plumb of Studio Plumb in Sacramento—her colorful, midcentury-inspired designs are so fun. Diversity makes us stronger (and more beautiful).
Just checked her out – wow wow, beautiful happy designs :)
I’ve actually worked with Rebecca in my last role during a One Room Challenge she did. I didn’t know her background and overlooked her for sure. Thank you!
Thank you for this beautiful, thoughtful post, Arlyn!! I’m drooling over the photos of Studio Galeón’s interiors and I absolutely adore the principles behind Materia Madura – such a brilliant innovation of material culture. As always, thank you for what you do – your voice is such an important contribution to this blog and your posts are always the ones that stick most with me!
This is beautiful and well-timed!! Your advocacy for your people and the clear statement of VALUE diverse voices bring (especially to design!) is appreciated and noted. People matter.
One of my favorite architects is mexican – Tatiana Bilbao. Super talented, nuanced and soulful work – check her out!
Thank you for this beautiful, insightful, and personal post! This type of post is why I’ve been reading the blog for so many years!
Wonderful. Gorgeous. Thank you.
I 1000% support posts like this. The political is personal. I work at a university and we are being blackmailed, essentially, to remove all mentions of the importance of diversity – so posts like this feel like an important source of resistance. Would love to see more posts like this about other marginalized groups (e.g., explicitly LGBTQ+ designers).
Loved this post! Thank you, Arlyn!
Thank you, Arlyn, for this amazing post! As a Latina creative, I felt your words in my bones and soul and completely resonated with that feeling of impending doom and disappointment that started after Election Day. Your posts are always my favorite and on this blog and inspired me to show my Latina roots with in design with bold color choices! Today’s post is a bright light and I really loved reading it.
Love this post, Mexican Interior Designers need more recognition! Especially in huge cities where they are so prolific like Houston and San Diego. It was a great read, thanks Arlyn!
Thank you to everyone at EHD for not pretending that what’s happening isn’t impacting us all. Design isn’t frivolous and your work is part of what allows us to have joy in these dark times. That said – Materia Madura is incredible. I can’t wait to check them out more. Thanks for the referral.
I love everything about this post. Thank you for making it!
Thank you for this post, Arlyn. xoxo
Great post, thank you Arlyn!
Arlyn this post is beautiful for the eye and the heart. Celebrating diversity and appreciating beauty in all cultures is food for our souls. Thank you.
Yes! let us not forget that this country owes its richness to the diversity and talents of all our people. Thanks for your thought provoking article.
Thank you, Arlyn. I’ve been waiting for an EHD post like this one. Please keep them coming.
thank you, Arlyn!!
Love this post, such beautiful work you’ve shared!
Wow!!! One of my favorite posts EVER. I loved Caitlin’s quilt post about the African American artists. And this is right up there as well! Looking up all these artists that I didn’t know existed!! Job well done Arlyn! :)
Came here to say this–this absolutely evoked Caitlin’s Gee’s Bend quilt post, another all-time favorite of mine. Thank you so much for this post, Arlyn! You absolutely nailed it, props to you for such a thoughtful and inspiring piece and for highlighting such fantastic designers and artists. Echoing other comments, this is the kind of content that I’ve been hoping to see here over the last month, and THIS is resistance. Joyful, insightful, gorgeous resistance.
We live in a gorgeous (at least to us!) house designed by Oscar Flores ( and are grateful for his brilliance every day we get to enjoy this home.
I hear the universe calling you to get your name out there, Arlyn!
Loved reading every word of this post. So pertinent for the upheaval political period we are living in. Thank you!