WHDD Hosts the First-Ever Designer Camp

The first Designer Camp took place in the heart of the West Hollywood Design District, delivering a unique and first-of-its-kind experience this July that explored all areas of design for high and junior-high school students ages 12-17.

“I started Designer Camp because I realized that today’s youth have very limited options when it comes to exploring areas of design,” says Designer Camp Founder Kristen Dees. “With art programs being cut from schools, many students have never been exposed to specialized career areas such as Interior Design, Photography, Set Design and Fashion.”

Fifteen students took part in a behind-the-scenes approach into creative fields such as interior design, furniture design, entertainment set design, trend forecasting, fashion design, photography, styling, and visual merchandising. With a week full of speakers and activities to develop the student’s vision, the campers created a design and accompanying story board utilizing Quartz samples from the camp’s sponsor, Caesarstone.

The camp’s curriculum included walking tours through almost a dozen West Hollywood Design District stores, interactive workshops and inspiring presentations from Greg Chait of The Elder Statesman, Karen Kuo of Robert Kuo, Jamie Adler of Phyllis Morris, and Thomas Lavin, to name a few. Students also gained hands-on experiences, such as dressing the windows at Kitson Melrose and experimenting with photography at Leica.

After a successful opening week, Designer Camp intends to continue engaging West Hollywood Design District’s local creative businesses and leaders of the design world with Los Angeles area youth for future Designer Camp opportunities. For more photos, check out our Designer Camp Facebook album.