Holly Hunt

Overview

Holly Hunt is known for her creative and entrepreneurial leadership in the interior design industry through her nationwide showrooms and product excellence. As an arbiter of refined taste, her eye for what is now and next has led to her success. 

A native of West Texas, Holly began her career in retail at Foleys Houston, a federated department store, in their executive training program and becoming a buyer. More interested in becoming a designer, she moved to New York in the early 1970s, as design assistant to the President of a costume jewelry firm. 

Marriage, three sons and 10 years later, she founded her first eponymous showroom in Chicago’s Merchandise Mart. She was soon credited with raising the bar in the interior design industry. 

Over following years, Holly opened showrooms coast to coast, and eventually designed and built her own collections of special home furnishings made for interior designers and their clients. HOLLY HUNT showrooms became the premiere design entity for luxury interior furnishings in the US and the HOLLY HUNT brand was formed. Today, eleven beautiful HOLLY HUNT showrooms extend through the US and London. 

Holly’s work has received numerous industry awards. Highlights are: Timeless Design Award from The Royal Oak Foundation in London. HOLLY HUNT showrooms were voted best by US designers across the country in House & Gardens’ Best of Best Awards - Top Showroom all three years the Award was given. 

More recently Holly received the IIDA Titan Award in Chicago in 2010 and the New York C&G Innovation Award in 2013. In December 2015, the Society of Architecture and Design at The Art Institute of Chicago awarded Holly with a Lifetime Achievement Award for Design Excellence. Texas Tech, her college Alma Mater, honored Holly with their annual Distinguished Leadership Award in 2012, and again with their Distinguished Alumni Award in 2018. She received the prestigious National IIDA Leadership Award for Excellence in 2013. Her design work and product continue to appear in a full range of design shelter publications. 

Holly sold her business to Knoll Inc. in 2014 and HOLLY HUNT Inc. still remains a standalone entity under the Knoll umbrella and continues to grow. Holly remains CEO today overseeing all creative departments and HOLLY HUNT showrooms worldwide. She currently resides in Chicago and Aspen, serving on the Board of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and the National Council of the Aspen Art Museum. 

Works