Girard brought a sensuous playfulness to twentieth-century design that had been absent from the austere aesthetic of classic modernism. In his work as an interior designer, Girard created a number of concepts for restaurants that went beyond colour schemes and furnishings to encompass such details as menu cards, matchboxes, tableware and napkins.
Designer Alexander Girard was born to an American mother and an Italian father in 1907 in New York City. Along with his close friends and contemporaries George Nelson and Charles & Ray Eames, Girard was one of the leading figures of postwar American modern design.
Textile design was the main focus of his wide-ranging design career which also encompassed architecture, interior design, furniture design and industrial design. Perhaps his most iconic designs are his collection of hand-painted Wooden Dolls with are now produced under licence by Vitra.
