Embroidered Pillow, Double Heart 2, blue_web_sub_hero

Embroidered Pillows - Double Heart 2, blue

Alexander Girard, 1952

The designer Alexander Girard drew wide acclaim with his interior concept for the legendary Miller House (1953-57), 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.

Girard's famous 'double heart' motif was used and varied by the designer throughout his lifetime. It is composed of two intersecting S's that form a continuous loop of mirrored hearts. Each S represents the first letter of the pet names used by Girard and his wife – Sandro and Susie – which prompted him to name the double heart symbol 'Sansusi'.

The embroidered pillow with the 'Double Heart 2' motif was created by Alexander Girard for the Miller family in 1975 – 20 years after the completion of the Miller House.

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Embroidered Pillows

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. Pleasantly firm and elaborately stitched, the Embroidered Pillows feature attractive motifs that have been chosen by Vitra in cooperation with the Girard family from the vast store of textiles and images created by the designer.

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Alexander Girard

The architect and designer Alexander Girard was one of the leading figures in American design during the postwar era. His passion for colours, patterns and textures found expression in the field of textile design, which was a focal part of his oeuvre.