Andrée Putman

The French interior designer Andrée Putman (1925-2013, born Andrée Christine Aynard), expression of an aristocratic and refined style, has lived many lives in one, starting from a wealthy but oppressive youth in which his banker father and pianist mother they routed her towards a demanding training dedicated to music which imposed an ascetic lifestyle on her. At the age of twenty she therefore decided to rebel and take a new path, approaching the world of art and fashion as a journalist and writing for magazines such as Elle or L'Oeil. After her marriage to Jacques Putman, she put the skills she acquired to good use by leading Créateurs & Industriels, a textile company that helped launch the careers of designers such as Issey Miyake and Thierry Mugler. In the 70s, now over fifty and going through the bankruptcy of both his company and his marriage, Putman finally finds his way by deciding to focus on design and founding Ecart, a delightful niche manufacturer dedicated to re-editions of great French masters such as Jean-Michel Frank and Pierre Chareau. Through Ecart Putman also begins to offer his own creations, then expanding his attention to environments as a whole with highly successful interior design projects such as the Morgans Hotel in New York, the first "boutique hotel" in the world, or the studio by Culture Minister Jack Lang. She will dedicate the last years of her life to hotel and boutique projects for major fashion brands created through the Andrée Putman Studio where she will then be joined by her daughter Olivia. In addition to the Ecart, still active, furniture and other products designed by her are in production for brands such as Poltrona Frau, Reflex, Serralunga, Fermob and Bisazza.