Who Inspires You?

A post on Habitually Chic led me to think about who I find inspirational, inside and outside of my industry. The post was about Fast Company's recent idea of a chain, in which people name a person who inspires them. The Fast Company chain goes all the way from designers to foodies to activists to entrepreneurs to fashionistas and back, and with such positive and loving comments it shows so beautifully just what makes the world go 'round: inspiration.
Habitually Chic asked readers to name who we find inspiring in and outside of our industries, so I commented, and thought i'd post my comment here on Heart Fairs with a little elaboration:
"lovely post, thank you! working in ctp. art, i'm inspired by gallerists and dealers who know their stuff but also know how to have a good time and dont high-brow, and by Dasha Zhukova who came out of nowhere to do so much - while throwing great parties! Outside my industry i'm always inspired by hilarious contemporary authors like Joshua Ferris. wow it's not easy just to name one person in each category!"


Dasha Zhukova inspires me because I know people label her a bimbo, a gold digger etc etc and obviously she's not. I can relate to having to overcome labels based on looks, and based on being a woman in a man's world. Really respect her.  Also, I think its important the way she bridges the worlds of art, fashion and design so naturally - too often people want to pigeon hole curators and exhibitors; we are expected to be bullshit-spouting machines who dont do anything casually and dont care about anything in life except talking long-windedly about art. Yes those types definitely exist but not all of us are like that, in fact that is the exact myth Heart Fairs is here to explore and hopefully destroy :)  (photo from Coolspotter.com)
Read a recent Art + Auction cover story about her HERE

Joshua Ferris wrote one of the funniest books ever - Then We Came to the End - and if i'm not mistaken, I think it was his first novel, wow. If you haven't read it, do - he's up there with Nick Hornby and Anne Tyler in terms of capturing the heartbreaking sweetness of mundane life, making fun of (exposing!) the soul-numbing truth of the atmosphere of offices.  (photo from whitezine.com)

Of course we could all list more than one person in and out of our industries that we find inspirational, so I'm gonna have to also add The Bowery Boys, Richard Koh, and Nicholas Kirkwood to this shout-out, I admire them so much. Now it feels kinda like i'm building a dream dinner party guest list haha


i SO love this topic and i'd love to know:

Who are 3 people both in and outside your industry who inspire you?

Thanks Habitually Chic for the great food for thought!