Kitty Stephen Hawks (born February 11, 1946) is an American

interior designer Interior design is the art and science of enhancing the interior of a building to achieve a healthier and more aesthetically pleasing environment for the people using the space. With a keen eye for detail and a Creativity, creative flair, an ...

living in New York City and Westchester, New York. She is the daughter of New York socialite

Slim Keith Nancy "Slim" Keith, Lady Keith of Castleacre (born Mary Raye Gross; July 15, 1917 – April 16, 1990) was an American socialite and fashion icon during the 1950s and 1960s, exemplifying the American jet set. Keith was married three times: f ...

and film director

Howard Hawks Howard Winchester Hawks (May 30, 1896December 26, 1977) was an American film director, Film producer, producer, and screenwriter of the Classical Hollywood cinema, classic Hollywood era. Critic Leonard Maltin called him "the greatest American ...

and is married to Larry Lederman, a photographer and retired corporate attorney. She was previously married to

Ned Tanen Ned Stone Tanen (September 20, 1931 – January 5, 2009) was an American film studio executive. The films he produced were some of the most popular films of the 1970s and 1980s, including the key Brat Pack films '' The Breakfast Club'' and '' ...

from April 11, 1976, to December 30, 1983.

Career

Hawks graduated from

Smith College Smith College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts, United States. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smit ...

and attended the School of Architecture and Urban Planning at the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

. After working as an agent for

International Creative Management ICM Partners was a talent and literary agency with offices in Los Angeles, New York City, Washington, D.C., and London. The company represented clients in the fields of motion pictures, television, music, publishing, live performance, branded e ...

in Los Angeles, she moved to New York City, where she worked as creative director for

Perry Ellis Perry Edwin Ellis (March 3, 1940 – May 30, 1986) was an American fashion designer who founded his eponymous sportswear house in the mid-1970s. Ellis' influence on the fashion industry has been called "a huge turning point" because he in ...

and Stendig Furniture before starting her own interior design firm. She was first commissioned in 1988 to decorate an apartment in New York's

Hotel des Artistes Hotel des Artistes is a historic residential building located at 1 West 67th Street, near Central Park West, on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. Completed in 1917, the ornate 17-story, 119-unit Gothic architecture, Gothic-style ...

. Since then her clients have included

Tom Brokaw Thomas John Brokaw (; born February 6, 1940) is an American author and retired network television journalist. He first served as the co-anchor of Today (American TV program), ''The Today Show'' from 1976 to 1981 with Jane Pauley, then as the anch ...

Candice Bergen Candice Patricia Bergen (born May 9, 1946) is an American actress. She won five Primetime Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards as the title character on '' Murphy Brown'' (1988–1998, 2018). She is also known for her role as Shirley Schmi ...

Agnes Gund Agnes Gund (born August 13, 1938) is an American philanthropist and arts patron, collector of modern and contemporary art, and arts education and social justice advocate. She is President Emerita and Life Trustee of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA ...

Michael Ovitz Michael Steven Ovitz (born December 14, 1946) is an American businessman. He was a talent agent who co-founded Creative Artists Agency (CAA) in 1975 and served as its chairman until 1995. Ovitz later served as president of The Walt Disney Compan ...

Mike Nichols Mike Nichols (born Igor Mikhail Peschkowsky; November 6, 1931 – November 19, 2014) was an American film and theatre director and comedian. He worked across a range of genres and had an aptitude for getting the best out of actors regardless of ...

, and

Diane Sawyer Lila Diane Sawyer (; born December 22, 1945) is an American television broadcast journalist known for anchoring major programs on two networks including ''ABC World News Tonight'', ''Good Morning America'', ''20/20 (U.S. TV series), 20/20'', and ...

. She served for over 10 years as a board member of the Design Trust for Public Space and the

Municipal Art Society The Municipal Art Society of New York (MAS) is a non-profit membership organization for preservation in New York City, which aims to encourage thoughtful planning and urban design and inclusive neighborhoods across the city. The organization was ...

of New York. She has taught residential design at the Parsons School of Interior Design, and was inducted into the Interior Design Hall of Fame in 2005. Hawks could be seen as unpredictable, as she told ''Interior Design'' magazine: “My work isn’t premeditated, it’s very spontaneous.”

Awards

* Interior Design Hall of Fame 2005

References

American interior designers Living people UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture alumni Smith College alumni American women interior designers 1946 births 21st-century American women {{Designer-stub