HermanMillerMaterials

Alexander Girard Textile Re-editionsfor the Herman Miller Collection

HermanMillerMaterials

Alexander Girard Textile Re-editionsfor the Herman Miller Collection

Alexander Girard

“Alexander Girard taught us that business ought to be fun, that part of the quality of life was joy, excitement and celebration.”

–D.J. De PreePresident of Herman Miller from 1923-1961

Trained as an architect, but proficient in all manner of activities, Alexander Girard was introduced to Herman Miller through Charles Eames and George Nelson, established the Textile Division in 1952, and served as its Director of Design until 1973. From his outpost in Santa Fe, New Mexico, he designed over 300 textiles in multitudes of colorways, multiple collections of wallpaper, decorative prints and wall hangings, an expansive group of furniture, and both decorative and useful objects. His passion for international folk art led him around the globe as he amassed a collection of roughly 106,000 pieces, and his many corporate and freelance assignments engendered lavish praise for his diverse skills and unique vision.

Introduced in 1952, Girard’s first textile collection for Herman Miller included a range of bold colors and versatile textures. To this foundation he began adding sympathetic and interrelated woven patterns and printed designs. Girard envisioned the textile program

Alexander Girard

as a flexible tool kit that offered endless variation through combination and use. Unhampered by contemporary dictums of style and taste, over the course of his 21-year tenure at Herman Miller Girard explored wildly different approaches to production method, yarn content, pattern, texture, color, and mood. The resulting body of work is not only staggering in sheer volume and creativity, but due to its fundamental qualities of beauty and usefulness, remains completely relevant today.

Our first re-edition of textiles by Alexander Girard for the Herman Miller Collection focuses on quintessential textures. Though often heralded for his patterns, Girard produced a body of woven textures for Herman Miller that are timeless and versatile. We have reproduced each textile as faithfully in weave and color as is possible with one enhancement: they now utilize the most advanced environmental constructions and materials available.

SuperweaveCharacterized by its distinct warp and weft, Superweave radiates a richness of both color and texture. The textile’s subtle multi-color effect is created by a labor-intensive process in which the fibers are dyed first, and then different colors of fiber are carded together to achieve the desired effect.

Lanalux“Lana” is Italian for wool, and Lanalux is exactly what the name implies—a wool textile with a luxuriously soft hand. Lanalux’s astonishing texture is achieved by using fine micron wool fibers. Three different yarns are spun and then plied together to make a single delightfully uneven and thick yarn. This yarn is then used in the warp and weft to achieve the chunky, seemingly random texture of the surface.

Lanalux

Superweave

An exhibition celebrating the breadth of Girard’s work and life was installed in Chicago for NeoCon 2012, where it will remain through Spring 2013.

Alexander Girard

Linomix

Colorado Plaid

Colorado PlaidA single Eames Sofa Compact surviving from a custom order placed by Colorado State University in the 1960s served as the basis for recreating this bold and beautiful plaid. Our re-edition features 13 warp sections across, with 17 weft sections interwoven to create a perfectly balanced plaid. The large-scale pattern is intended to be applied at random, allowing for great variety even in a single installation.

LinomixCharacterized by a pixel-like interweaving of colored yarns, Linomix demonstrates Girard’s playful mastery of production capabilities to create a seemingly random pattern. Based on two surviving examples, one in our archive and another at the Cooper–Hewitt, National Design Museum, the resulting construction is woven in a patented process called Climatex Lifecycle which meets Cradle to Cradle CertifiedCM Gold criteria.

Cradle to Cradle CertifiedCM is a certification mark licensed by the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute.

Visit www.hermanmiller.com/materials for current and detailed material specifications.

DesignerPrice Category

ContentWidth

WeightRepeat

LightfastnessFlammability

Origin

Seating

Alexander Girard1191% wool, 9% ramie51"19 ounces/linear yard51" width x 67" heightGrade 4, 40 hoursCA TB 117, NFPA 260Switzerland

Colorado Plaid

*

Multi11901

Colorado Plaid

Repeat: 51" width x 67" height

Visit www.hermanmiller.com/materials for current and detailed material specifications.

DesignerPrice Category

ContentWidth

WeightLightfastnessFlammability

Origin

Seating

Alexander Girard14100% wool54"33.1 ounces/linear yardGrade 4, 40 hoursCA TB 117, NFPA 260Scotland

Lanalux

*

White, Black13A84

Lanalux

Natural13A80

Black, White13A75

Crimson13A87

Yellow Brown13A83

Orange Light13A86

Raw Umber, Black13A78

Visit www.hermanmiller.com/materials for current and detailed material specifications.

Seating

Alexander Girard1191% wool, 9% ramie51"19 ounces/linear yardGrade 4, 40 hoursCA TB 117, NFPA 260Switzerland

DesignerPrice Category

ContentWidth

WeightLightfastnessFlammability

Origin

Linomix

*

Natural, Black, Pink, Blue Grey12003

Linomix

Natural, Blue Grey, Ochre, Grey Dark12001

Natural, Orange, Sienna, Green12004

Natural, Umber, Sepia, Khaki12002

Visit www.hermanmiller.com/materials for current and detailed material specifications.

Seating

Alexander Girard10100% wool54"23.6 ounces/linear yardGrade 4, 40 hoursCA TB 117, NFPA 260Scotland

DesignerPrice Category

ContentWidth

WeightLightfastnessFlammability

Origin

Superweave

*

Orange, Pink Dark22A20

Superweave

Ultramarine Dark22A07

Olive Green Dark Dark22A08

Sienna22A03

Yellow Dark22A04

General product and company informationwww.hermanmiller.com

Herman Miller, Inc.855 East Main Ave. PO Box 302Zeeland, Michigan 49464-0302 USA616 654 3000888 443 4357 (USA or Canada)

Herman Miller Collectionwww.hermanmiller.com/collection

Materials informationwww.hermanmiller.com/materials

Questions about Herman Miller MaterialsEmail: materials@hermanmiller.com

Alexander Girard is a registered trademark of The Alexander Girard Estate.Colorado Plaid, Lanalux, Linomix, and Superweave © 2013 Alexander Girard®. All rights reserved.Used under license. * ACT® registered certification marks© 2012 Herman Miller, Inc., Zeeland, Michigan. All rights reserved.

10/12

Printed samples are representative of the material to be supplied and may not indicate an exact match; some variation may occur.

Visit www.hermanmiller.com/materials for current and detailed application information and material specifications.

HermanMiller