Jennifer Hunter Design Interview

Interning for Mr. Hadley was the greatest privilege I have ever had--just being in his presence was magical. He valued education and learning by doing. My role was to shadow his designers on all projects and to go out and explore. He was a strong believer in seeing, touching, and doing. If someone was sitting at their desk he said, “get up and go out!” He brought me to all the great artists and artisans, job sites, fabric houses, antique stores, etc.
After my internship for two summers I was at a crossroads. I asked his advice on next steps in my education as I was struggling with the decision to go to design school post architecture school. He said that you either have an eye for design or you don’t. My architecture degree taught me the technical skills, but what I was lacking was the foundation of antiques. I therefore applied to the Masters program in American Fine andDecorative Arts at Sotheby’s Institute of Art. There I learned the history of furniture,decorative objects, and fine art. It was exactly what I needed to round out my education.
I always had an affinity towards traditional design, however he really sharpened that. Mr. Hadley taught me to edit. You can’t just throw every pretty fabric in one room. There needs to be a rhyme and reason and some unifying thread. One also needs to understand “the why” and the historical significance. He was disappointed that the younger generation didn’t quite understand this concept, hence his guidance of attending the Sotheby’s program.