Andree Putman
December 17, 2007 
Designer We Love: Andree Putman
Website: andree putman
Quotable Quote:
"I have always cultivated the revel spirit, from my early childhood. I wanted to empty rooms. I turned down all the dictates of good taste and elitism. I avoid decoration for decoration's sake. "
Background:
Born in Paris, 1925
Wrote "Decoration" column during the 1960s for French design magazine L’oeil
Founded Ecart International in 1978, reproducing 20th century modern furnishings
Interior design work for designer shops: Yves St. Laurent, Cartier, Ebel, Azzedine Alaia, Thierry Mugler, Karl Lagerfeld
1984 interior design for Morgans hotel, the first boutique hotel, from Ian Schrager and Steve Rubell; other hotels in Cologne and Paris followed
Commercial design for movie The Pillow Book, Bordeaux Museum of Contemporary Art, office of Jack Lang (then-minister of culture for France)
1997 launch of her product design business, featuring furniture, fragrance, home accessories -- silver, crystal, tabletop, textiles, linens, rugs and carpets
What We Love:
Fearless curator of great, underdog design
Bringing Mellet-Stevens, Mariano Fortuny, Rene Herbst, Jean-Michel Frank, Pierre Chareau, and the sublime Eileen Gray back into the design spotlight through her reproduction business
She made merchandising couture fashionable with her sublime shop interiors
She put personal style into hospitality and helped launch the boutique hotel craze
Her mannequins for Barneys
Her classic interior design for Air France's Concorde jets
Her desire to design for a children's hospital someday
This quote: "Minimalism in interior design has become a caricature. Everywhere you find shops or hotels with an ambience that makes you feel like you are in a refrigerator."
Andree Putman Sampler:
Photo Credits: Time, Amazon France, domeau & Peres, Wallpaper, Gaia & Gino, Architonic, New York Magazine
Reader Comments (2)
Isn't it interesting that Ecart backwards spells "Trace?"
Lovely observation! We're wondering if Ms. Putman was going for an idiom in French like "a l'ecart" (out of the way) or "faire un ecart" (to swerve).