Alexander Girard

Alexander Girard (May 24, 1907 – December 31, 1993) affectionately known as Sandro, was an architect, interior designer, furniture designer, industrial designer and a textile designer.

He was born in New York City to an American mother from Boston and a French-Italian father. He 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. After also graduating from the Royal School of Architecture in Rome, Girard refined his skills in both Florence and New York.

Girard is widely known for his contributions in the field of American textile design, particularly through his work for Herman Miller (1952 to 1975), where he created fabrics for the designs of George Nelson and Charles and Ray Eames.

His work also includes designing the La Fonda del Sol Restaurant in New York (1960), the Herman Miller Showplace: T&O (Textiles and Objects) (1961), Braniff International Airways (1965), and the Girard Foundation (1962), which houses his extensive folk art collection. He and his wife, Susan Girard, amassed a remarkable collection of artifacts consisting of folk art, popular art, toys, and textiles from around the world, which is displayed through the Girard Foundation, founded 1962. One of the artists 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. 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. Girard initially established a fabric collection based on his architectural training. His first fabric line consisted of plain upholsteries and geometric drapery prints—stripes, circles, and triangles. He went on to create many more patterns and designs, largely inspired by folk art. He also worked with a 19th-century textile mill he discovered in central Mexico, to create a line of handwoven 100% cotton fabrics. Because of the excellent quality and array of colors available, he developed a range of colorful “mexidots”and “mexistripes” which he used in many of his projects including installation backing, ground for environmental enrichment panels and upholstery.

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