zenzi gadson
Zenzi considers herself a Chapel Hill, North Carolina native, although she was born in Philadelphia and spent several formative years in New England while attending both boarding school and university. Growing up, she often spent weekends sifting through flea markets with her father and browsing the aisles of modernist shops, in the nearby towns and cities that were once home to America’s major furniture and textile industries. Through her father’s love for mid-century art and design, Zenzi began to understand and appreciate furniture, its history and its unique language. After deciding not to go to law school and after training and working as a pastry chef, she eventually returned to those roots. In 1999, Zenzi packed her station wagon and headed to Los Angeles to pursue her career as an interior designer. There she immersed herself in the Los Angeles design community by working in high end showrooms, assisting several established interior designers, and gradually securing her own clients and projects. In 2003, she founded Zenzi Gadson Interiors with the desire to create lasting and client-specific interiors without relying on ephemeral trends. She partnered with Justin Maurice in 2005 and, soon thereafter, the pair set up shop in Venice, CA. On early weekend mornings, Zenzi can still often be found searching the aisles of one of L.A.’s many flea markets.
justin maurice
Justin Maurice’s design education began early and outside the classroom. His father was a prosthetic maker and he would spend hours in the workshop, watching as hands were carved to life-like perfection and hinges in knuckles were adjusted to the correct spring and flexion. He understood then that design centered around the clear and constant negotiation between form and function. In those days, he would also spend time on large residential construction sites with his stepfather, who was then a general contractor. He would study that wonderful progression over and over again, from blueprint to foundation to framing to finishing. In time, this early intrigue with form, function, and construction would meld into a life pursuit as a designer. Justin graduated cum laude from UCLA with a creative writing degree and worked in film development and production in the U.S. and abroad for several years. He headed a small production company for some time, focusing on commercials and art films before renewing his hands-on relationship with construction and design when he acquired projects building sets for fashion editorial. When he realized that a career in interior design may be his true calling, he acquired a position in retail and custom furniture sales to round out his experience level. In 2005, he met and partnered with Zenzi Gadson to help tend to her burgeoning client list. Their firm currently services an array of commercial and residential clientele throughout Los Angeles, the U.S., and abroad.