Embroidered Pillows – Vitra

Designed by
Alexander Girard

Along with his colleagues Charles and Ray Eames and George Nelson, Alexander Girard was one of the leading figures in American design during the postwar era. While textile design was the primary focus of Girard’s oeuvre, he was also admired for his work in the graphic arts as well as furniture, exhibition and interior design. Girard brought a sensuous playfulness to twentieth-century design that had been absent from the austere aesthetic of classic modernism.

Girard attracted special attention with his interior design of the legendary Miller House, for which he personally selected each individual object. The centrepiece of the house was a so-called ‘conversation pit’, a sunken seating area in the living room, with built-in sofas covered in fabrics by Girard and decorated with embroidered pillows made specifically for this setting.