THE DAMSELS OF DESIGN

‘GONE AND LARGELY forgotten by most’ might be a more appropriate title to describe General Motors’ cadre of ten female designers hired by Harley Earl in 1955.

One upshot of WW2 had been that millions of women moved out of the kitchen into the workplace, acquiring a new sense of independence and a new voice. With the American economy booming as it entered the 1950s, Harley Earl, GM’s head of design, saw that women had an