Natalia Allen

Surfer, designer, member of Fast Company’s 100 Most Creative People in Business list for 2010, graduate of Parsons – where she received the highly coveted Designer of the Year Award – Natalia Allen is the founder of Design Futurist, a New York-based product design consultancy. Design Futurist partners with clients such as Calvin Klein, Dupont and Donna Karan to create innovative and sustainable fashion, accessories and textiles. Design Futurist is using modern technology to create eco-friendly and socially responsible products that are free of “gimmicks and greenwashing.”

Natalia’s work has been featured in WWD and New York Magazine, and she has shared her ideas on sustainable design and consumption with audiences at events around the world, including Wearable Futures, Textiles: the Next Horizon and Davos. The World Economic Forum honored her as as a Young Global Leader, a distinction given to a remarkable group of entrepreneurs, academics and politicians under the age of 40 who strive to find innovative solutions for current and future global challenges.

While she likes the idea of being a thought leader, Natalia knows that as a designer, it’s essential to materialize concepts, goals and visions into tangible products and services.