Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/48690
Y P It's rare to find a patron whose influence and dedication can incite change from halfway around the world. Yet Yana Peel is one such figure. Now, having firmly established herself as a formidable supporter of contemporary art, Peel has set her prominent sights on a field equally close to her heart: design. Swept up by the fertile London art scene in the 1990s and early-aughts, Peel left her job as a Goldman Sachs investment banker to advocate—and fundraise—for the arts full-time via Outset, a contemporary art fund she founded with Candida Gertler in 2003. It was designed to foster and edu- cate new patrons and to support critical initiatives at some of the city's best institutions (Tate Modern among them). Based in Hong Kong for the past three years, the Russian-born, Canadian-bred Peel has retained staggeringly strong ties to London. In March, she launched the Design Fund to Benefit the V&A, an off- shoot of her work with Outset that, she hopes, will inspire similar innovations, even among the U.K.'s most casual museum-goers. The fund will enable London's Victoria and Albert Museum to acquire the best examples of contemporary design for its permanent collection. "At the moment, when we look at Britain and the creative industries, design and fashion are really having a renaissance—a terrific mo- ment of strength and excellence," she says. The goal, she adds, is to march these achievements proudly before the public and "fill the collection with the greatest design of our time." Peel credits Lina Kanafani with introducing her to the breadth and genius of our contemporary practitioners—she frequently shopped Kanafani's cutting-edge London boutique, Mint, while still at Goldman Sachs. "I would go in and furnish my apartment with her treasure trove of finds," Peel recalls. "Whether she was unearthing Yael Mer and Shai Alkaly or Fredrikson Stallard, she was really at the forefront of exposing new talent and someone very relevant to me. I realized that great design is beyond its time and that great designers can turn the commonplace into the sublime." CULTURED 85 a na E E L PHOTO BY ELIZABETH JORDAN