Michael Diaz-Griffith is a writer, designer, and historian who works at the threshold between past and future. As CEO of the Design Leadership Network and vice chair of The Winter Show, he brings a storyteller’s instinct and a strategist’s insight to cultural life, linking creative leadership with curatorial thinking to help organizations understand the past and shape what comes next.

His research treats objects and images as sources of transhistorical insight—evidence of how people have lived, imagined, and adorned their worlds, and quiet suggestions for how we might live, too. His projects take shape in museums, foundations, ateliers, and publications in the United States and abroad. He is known for making the material past feel newly alive, interpreting historic objects and contemporary work within the same continuum of making, material intelligence, and cultural imagination.

His early work in the decorative arts, along with his first book, The New Antiquarians: At Home with Young Collectors (2023), helped spark a renewed wave of interest in historic art and antiques among a new generation of collectors. His forthcoming book, an authoritative guide to collecting for the 21st century, builds on that momentum—offering readers a thoughtful, inviting way into the pleasures of learning about and living with objects.

Photo by Alan David Padilla

  • Michael has consulted for, collaborated with, and advised brands, galleries, fairs, and cultural institutions including Armani, Artemest, Bard Scotland, Bonacina, Cadogan Tate, Chanel, Christie’s, Chubb, Dreweatts, Frieze, Jacqueline Sullivan Gallery, Jamb, de Gournay, Liberty of London, Loro Piana, Matches Fashion, Nicholas Hall, Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg, The Morgan Library & Museum, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Nantucket Historical Association, Olde Hope Antiques, Poltrona Frau, Philadelphia Art Museum, Ralph Lauren, Rubelli, Sanderson, Sir John Soane’s Museum Foundation, Soane Britain, Sotheby’s, STAIR Galleries, TEFAF, The Winter Show, Treasure House Fair, Vendelmans, Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library, and others.

  • Michael’s writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Guardian, n+1, ELLE Decor, Veranda, The Magazine ANTIQUES, FREDERIC, Neptune Papers, and more. His first book, The New Antiquarians: At Home with Young Collectors, was published in 2023. A second volume is forthcoming from Phaidon. With Hadley Keller Lloyd, he produces a series of books on every room in the house for the Design Leadership Network and Assouline. The Living Room was published in 2024; The Kitchen follows in 2026.

  • Michael speaks widely on collecting, connoisseurship, and the histories of art, design, and architecture, and he regularly represents the Design Leadership Network on stages around the world. A seasoned moderator, he leads conversations that bring together makers, collectors, curators, and cultural leaders, and he has served as co-host of Curious Objects and host of TMA Explains, both from The Magazine ANTIQUES. Recent engagements include TEFAF Maastricht and New York, Philadelphia Art Museum, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Sotheby’s, Christie’s, STAIR Galleries, Design Los Angeles, Newport Design Week, The Winter Show, The San Francisco Fall Show, Treasure House Fair, Preservation Long Island, Jacqueline Sullivan Gallery, and Ralph Lauren Home.

  • Michael and his work have been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Vogue, Architectural Digest, M Le magazine du Monde, ELLE Decor, The World of Interiors, Town & Country, CNN, Business of Home, Cultured, Surface, AD PRO, Artnet News, Architectural Record, Curbed, Country Life, House & Garden, Cabana, 1stDibs Introspective, Veranda, House Beautiful, The Magazine ANTIQUES, Antiques & The Arts Weekly, and more.

A new take on old things.

Welcome to the future of the past.

A new take on old things. Welcome to the future of the past.