About us

The New Modernist was formed in South Africa in 2016. Emma de Crespigny spent ten years working for Alan Moss in Manhattan while working on her Masters in 20th century design through Cooper Hewitt Design Museum. She then moved to South Africa to start her own business. She offered mid century pieces through her showroom before buying a carpentry business when she started manufacturing her own line of furniture and an upholstery business. Post pandemic she decided to move back to the US and is now based in Portland, Oregon. Again she purchased a collection of high end designer furniture, mostly European mid-century this time and has now added rugs to her inventory and plans to create her own line of rugs manufacturing in South Africa, Morocco and India.