19 Facts About Alexander Girard

Alexander Girard, affectionately known as Sandro, was an architect, interior designer, furniture designer, industrial designer, and a textile designer.

Alexander Girard was born in New York City to an American mother from Boston and a French-Italian father.

Alexander Girard was raised in Florence, Italy and in 1917, he was sent as a boarder to Bedford Modern School in England leaving in 1924 to study architecture in London.

Alexander Girard is widely known for his contributions in the field of American textile design, particularly through his work for Herman Miller, where he created fabrics for the designs of George Nelson and Charles and Ray Eames.

One of the artists Alexander Girard supported was Cochiti Pueblo potter Helen Cordero, the creator of Storyteller pottery figurines.

In 1952, Alexander Girard was hired to head the fabric and textile division.

Alexander Girard worked with George Nelson and Charles and Ray Eames to form a design team that has influenced the fundamentals of design throughout the United States and the rest of the world.

Alexander Girard initially established a fabric collection based on his architectural training.

Alexander Girard went on to create many more patterns and designs, largely inspired by folk art.

In May 1965, Alexander Girard began his design work for Braniff International Airways re-branding campaign called "The End of the Plain Plane".

Alexander Girard used colors like light and dark blue, beige, ochre, orange, turquoise, and lemon yellow to make the planes recognizable from the ground.

Alexander Girard designed a line of furniture for Braniff's ticket offices and customer lounges.

Alexander Girard created over eighty different sun motifs found throughout the restaurant.

Alexander Girard was commissioned by Brody to design the L'Etoile Restaurant in the Sherry Netherlands Hotel, New York, a French restaurant with austere decor featuring a range of silver and greys featuring glass engraved with the names of French luminaries and daisy shaped tables in the bar.

Alexander Girard created place mats and dishes specific to the project.

Alexander Girard was commissioned to create a mural for the John Deere Company, in the entrance to their administration building designed by Eero Saarinen near Moline, Illinois.

In 1978, Alexander Girard contributed his immense collection to the Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe, New Mexico, United States.

Opening in 1982, this unorthodox and delightful exhibition was designed and installed by Alexander Girard, and remains popular with the public.

Alexander Girard designed his own typeface and used it in other design works through typography.