Letter from the President

Welcome to the Joy Kingston Foundation.  After many years of discussion and planning, the Joy Kingston Foundation has finally become a reality.  It is my honor, as Chairman/CEO, to be able to perpetuate Joy Kingston’s design legacy by creating scholarship and educational opportunities within the design profession in her memory.  As a member of the design profession myself, I am keenly aware of the need to cultivate the next generation of designers for even greater levels of success.

Joy dedicated her life to her craft and it was her passion to achieve design excellence in every facet of her extraordinary design career.  While Joy Kingston was a top fashion designer of her era, she was equally enchanted with the world of the arts in general.  Her appreciation for all that was beautiful was not confined simply to fashion, but also to fine art, music, ballet, literature and the theater.  She was a true renaissance woman in every sense of the word.

As Joy’s cousin and fellow designer, I fully appreciated her drive and desire to create beauty in every area within her grasp.  Joy and I spent countless hours discussing the virtues of modern design from every vantage point.  Joy was a fashion designer that  loved architecture and interior design as well. When not planning her seasonal fashion lines, she was designing her own furnishings and creating spectacular living environments for herself and others.  The time we spent together was filled with excerpts of her exciting career both behind the drafting table and in the boardroom.  The topics of form, function, color, texture, ergonomics, even economics and the fundamentals of creating and operating a successful business entity were the springboard of our many hours together.  While Joy and I were separated in age by many years, our common passion for design was an obvious and strong bond between us.  Having shared so many common interests and similar career experiences, it seemed only natural for me to be inspired to create a lasting tribute not only to Joy, but to the design profession we both embraced.  I hope that with my guidance, the Joy Kingston Foundation can provide an ongoing informational and educational resource to the design community and profession and to all individuals that live their lives as Joy Kingston and I have…….by design.

Paul Matthew Layne
Chairman/CEO