Alexander Girard

Alexander Girard (1907–1993) was a designer who proved that modernism could be anything but minimal. Known for his fearless use of colour, pattern, and folk art, Girard trained in architecture in London before turning his hand to everything from interiors to furniture and, most famously, textiles. As head of Herman Miller’s textile division from 1952 to 1973, he created over 300 designs—joyful, graphic, and utterly original.

His interiors, like New York’s La Fonda del Sol, brimmed with character, marrying typography, illustration, and bold palettes in ways no one else dared. Girard’s travels, and his extraordinary collection of folk art, shaped a body of work that feels as fresh today as it did in the mid-century.