Alexander Girard A Designer’s Universe Exhibi on 2019-2020 Sandro’s work and influence at Herman Miller (1952 – 1973) by Jackie Lockington and Richard Proctor
Trained as an architect, but proficient in all areas of design, Alexander Girard was introduced to HM by Charles Eames and George Nelson, who needed appropriate fabric for their modern furniture designs. Girard was hired to create the Miller Tex le Division in 1951 and was its Director of Design un l 1973. His salary was 5% of the sales of his fabric. From his home in Santa Fe, NM, he designed over 300 tex les in mul tudes of colorways, mul ple collec ons of wallpaper, decora ve prints and wall hangings, and furniture. Sandro’s fabric designs were an integral part of the mid-century direc on of HM. They were bold, bright, colorful, and opposite in feeling than the modern pale and staid colors available at that me. While working for Herman Miller, Girard did freelance work for exhibi ons, museums, restaurants, shops, and private clients. He and his wife also con nued to travel extensively collec ng folk art, his main inspira on.
Girard was no faddist. He was an ar st and innovator with a great awareness of marke ng and promo on. Hugh De Pree said, “Alexander Girard taught us that business ought to be fun, that part of the quality of life was joy, excitement, and celebra on. He provided for the Herman Miller program an emo onal enrichment. …we followed AG where he led us because we knew he had impeccable taste and incredible astuteness about space, color, and pa ern”
GIRARDS MAIN CONTRIBUTIONS TO HERMAN MILLER AND INTERIOR DESIGN
1. His inaugural collec on for Herman Miller offered a fully formed vision for a holis c tex le program and made an immediate impact within the trade and media. Previously (1930’s-1951 he had his own label and designed mostly fruits, flowers, and “conversa onals” printed on a white ground through his outlet in Grosse Pointe, MI
1 2. Girard was the first to coordinate fabrics in a book (3 ring binder, etc.) so designers could “mix and match” and look through the collec on
3. Girard was to give character and touch and also to supplement and lend excitement to the work of Nelson and Eames. The three men formed a design team that has influenced living not only in the USA, but throughout the world.
4. His work has been described as an an dote to modern design, or the humaniza on of modernism. He restored what classical modernism had rejected in design, color, decora on, and opulence.
5. Small and simple designs such as checks and stripes coordinated with larger prints and were available for a number of years with mul ple colorways
6. Designed fabric for the furniture designs of Nelson and Eames
7. Commercial fabrics were well tested for strength, color fastness, wrinkling, abrasive resistance, s tch strength, etc, the technical requirements of the day.
8. Girard’s innova ons extended to a variety of marke ng, sales, and specifica on tools he designed to accompany his collec ons.
9. Sandro was given free rein to contribute graphics and showroom installa ons, lending a more dis nct character to each collec on and adding a new dimension to the HM program as a whole
10. Girard explored wildly different approaches to produc on method, yarn content, pa ern, texture, color, and mood to create an unrivaled body of work.
11. Girard’s love of folk art played an extensive role throughout his tenure with Herman Miller, from influencing the tex le designs, to styling for
2 showrooms. His unique approach was o en featured in magazines and trade materials.
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Below is a brief history of HM and how its design and manufacturing philosophy changed over me. Highlighted are the famous mid-century designers whose crea ve genius shaped that change (Rohde, Nelson, Eames, Girard). Herman Miller is s ll in opera on world wide, is a leader in commercial design, and has showrooms all over the world.
1905 begins as the Star Furniture Co, manufacturing tradi onal bedroom suites
1922 Herman Miller (the man) is president of the company and D.J. De Pree general manager and corporate leader un l 1962
1923 De Pree convinces his father-in-law (Herman Miller) to purchase a majority of Star Furniture stock and change the name to Herman Miller
1930 NY designer, Gilbert Rohde is hired, and convinces De Pree to make modern furniture, directs design un l his death in 1944
1933 HM modern furniture debuts at the Chicago Century of Progress expo
1934 Rohde led HM into the upholstery business as well as casegoods
1939 opens showroom at the Merchandise Mart in Chicago (first manufacturer’s showroom at the Mart), then, in 1941, a NY showroom.
1942 enters the office furniture market, opens showroom in LA, Gilbert Rohde dies in 1944
1945 Tradi onal-style furniture is phased out; architect George Nelson is hired as the key design consultant un l his death in 1985
1946 First HM furniture collec on by George Nelson, Nelson brings in Charles and Ray Eames and introduce award=winning molded plywood chairs for mass produc on. They were exhibited at the MOMA in New York
3 1951 Eames and Nelson know Girard personally and are familiar with his exhibi ons, awards, architecture, etc. They suggest him to De Pree and he is hired as a colorist and tex le innovator, which con nues un l 1970’s.
1952 The HM Tex le Division is formed, headed by Girard, who introduces the first of over 300 fabric designs as well as wallpaper collec ons.
1956 the famous Eames lounge chair and o oman is introduced on Television, there are seven HM showrooms across the country
1957 HM enters the interna onal market and by 1990 have facili es in Europe, Canada, and the Asian Pacific
1958 HM opens showroom in San Francisco, designed by Alexander Girard
1960 Girard designs La Fonda del Sol project, HM manufactures some of the furniture (designed by Girard and Eames)
1960 During the 60’s HM transi oned from serving residen al customers to ins tu onal environments to corpora ons.
1961 HM Tex les and Objects Shop opens on May 22 in NY, designed by Girard, makes Girard fabrics available to the public, and was the first retail store for HM.
1963 Tex les and Objects Shop closes, 1964 Girard wallpapers discon nued
1965 Girard redesigns the visual aspects of en re Braniff Airlines: his furniture leads to the Girard furniture collec on
1967 Girard group furniture collec on is introduced, but discon nued in 1968
1970 Girard designs Environmental Enrichment graphics for fabric-covered Ac on Office panels: added to Ac on Office in 1972, discon nued in 1976
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Addi onal informa on about Sandro’s Fabrics
4 Screen Process Fabric Prin ng: A sheet of sheer fabric (silk or polyester) is stretched firmly over a light weight frame and a stencil is adhered to it. Print cloth is laid out on a long padded table with a notched registra on bar on each side. The screen is placed on the print cloth and print paste is squeegeed over the stencil onto the print cloth below. The stencil areas remain unprinted (blocked out) and open areas will print. For a one color single-image (most Environmental Enrichment Panels for instance) the process ends here. For mul color prints a different screen of the exact same size will be needed for each color. Girard was a master of overlapping transparency.
Drapery Fabric: Girard advised against floral designs which become distorted when draped or folded. He favored stylis c abstrac ons and his endless geometrics. He said, “It is boring to be aware of endless pa ern repeats, they should be as invisible as possible.” This is a skill he fully developed in his 20 years with Herman Miller.
Upholstery Fabrics: Mostly woven pa erns but some small scale repeats as well.
Cushion Covers: Unique single-image designs o en one screen print color with ground color op ons.
Environmental Enrichment Panels: Single-image panels, forty designs in all which had recurred repeatedly – sun faces, double hearts, doves and angels. Mostly one color prints. Designed to fit office spaces and personalize them. Prices ranged from $16.50 to $44.00, discon nued in 1976, but VERY collectable today.
Subjects and Sources: Alexander Girard was a cosmopolitan ci zen of the world and probably the 20th century’s foremost collector of folk art. He was a champion of (then) outrageous, intense color schemes (hot pink, melon, burnt orange on school bus yellow ground fabric for example). He blended his own precise and organized way of working with the magic, mystery, and intensely human (some mes messy) quirkiness of the world of folk art.
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