Belle Kogan was a Russian-American industrial designer and is regarded as the first prominent female in the profession in the United States as well as one of the founders of the profession itself.
11 Facts About Belle Kogan
1.
2.
Belle Kogan graduated from Bethlehem High School with an art scholarship to Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art.
3.
Belle Kogan was hired to make designs for Zippo Manufacturing in 1938.
4.
Belle Kogan was one of the first industrial designers to experiment with plastics.
5.
Belle Kogan designed melamine dinnerware for the Boonton Modelling Co.
6.
Belle Kogan employed a full-time staff a staff of three women designers by 1939.
7.
Belle Kogan was the focus of the 1946 one-woman show at the Philadelphia Art Alliance.
8.
Belle Kogan would continue to produce designs in America until 1970.
9.
Belle Kogan became the only woman of the time to do the same.
10.
Belle Kogan spoke on television and radio, gave lectures and interviews, wrote and exhibited her work frequently.
11.
Belle Kogan received the Personal Recognition Award in 1994 from the Industrial Designers Society of America.