Silhouettes

Description
Designer Bio

Brand: Vitra

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Together with his friends Charles and Ray Eames and George Nelson, Alexander Girard was one of the leading figures of post-war American design. While textiles was the primary focus of Girard's oeuvre, he was frequently commissioned to design complete interiors. He created the interior concepts for several restaurants – La Fonda del Sol (1961, New York), L'Etoile (1966, New York) and Compound (1967, Santa Fe) – with comprehensive solutions ranging from decoration, furniture and tableware to napkins, business cards and matchboxes.

In 1965 he was commissioned to design the New York restaurant La Reserve and created a series of charming metal figures that appear to be dancing: Silhouettes. They were to be positioned between the dining tables, adding a cheerful touch to the ambience, while simultaneously serving as attractive partitions between guests.

The restaurant La Reserve unfortunately never came into being, but the plans and drawings by Alexander Girard were preserved and are part of the Alexander Girard Collection held by the Vitra Design Museum. Together with the Girard family, Vitra studied all the ideas developed for La Reserve, and decided to bring the Silhouettes to life – initially with the motifs Bull and Mermaid.

About Designer
Alexander Girard	Born in 1907 in New York City, Alexander Girard was one of the leading figures of postwar American design, along with his close friends and colleagues George Nelson and Charles & Ray Eames. The primary focus of his wide-ranging oeuvre was textile design. Girard created numerous fabrics for the Herman Miller Company, favouring abstract forms and geometric patterns in a wide variety of colour compositions. Many of his upholstery fabrics remain as timely and vital as ever and are still manufactured and utilised by Vitra today. Having originally studied architecture, Girard made a name for himself over his long career in the fields of furniture, exhibition, interior and graphic design. Moreover, he was one of the world's most important collectors of folk art. The objects and textiles acquired by Girard on his extensive travels provided him with a rich source of inspiration and ideas. When Rolf Fehlbaum, the son of Vitra's founding family, first visited Alexander Girard and his wife Susan at their Santa Fe home in 1960, Fehlbaum wrote a letter to his parents telling of the deep impression it had made on him, and describing it as the most fascinating house he had ever seen in the United States. Vitra and the Vitra Design Museum have devoted themselves to the reappraisal and revival of Alexander Girard's work over the past several years. The growing Girard collection in Vitra's product portfolio includes his painted Wooden Dolls, the Environmental Enrichment Panels and various furniture pieces and objects, along with his distinctive fabric designs. After Alexander Girard's death in 1993, his heirs donated the Girard archive (comprising hundreds of drawings, prototypes and samples) to the Vitra Design Museum. In 2016/17, the museum mounted the exhibition 'Alexander Girard: A Designer's Universe'.

About Designer

Alexander Girard

Born in 1907 in New York City, Alexander Girard was one of the leading figures of postwar American design, along with his close friends and colleagues George Nelson and Charles & Ray Eames.

The primary focus of his wide-ranging oeuvre was textile design. Girard created numerous fabrics for the Herman Miller Company, favouring abstract forms and geometric patterns in a wide variety of colour compositions. Many of his upholstery fabrics remain as timely and vital as ever and are still manufactured and utilised by Vitra today.

Having originally studied architecture, Girard made a name for himself over his long career in the fields of furniture, exhibition, interior and graphic design. Moreover, he was one of the world's most important collectors of folk art. The objects and textiles acquired by Girard on his extensive travels provided him with a rich source of inspiration and ideas. When Rolf Fehlbaum, the son of Vitra's founding family, first visited Alexander Girard and his wife Susan at their Santa Fe home in 1960, Fehlbaum wrote a letter to his parents telling of the deep impression it had made on him, and describing it as the most fascinating house he had ever seen in the United States.

Vitra and the Vitra Design Museum have devoted themselves to the reappraisal and revival of Alexander Girard's work over the past several years. The growing Girard collection in Vitra's product portfolio includes his painted Wooden Dolls, the Environmental Enrichment Panels and various furniture pieces and objects, along with his distinctive fabric designs.

After Alexander Girard's death in 1993, his heirs donated the Girard archive (comprising hundreds of drawings, prototypes and samples) to the Vitra Design Museum. In 2016/17, the museum mounted the exhibition 'Alexander Girard: A Designer's Universe'.