Along with his colleagues Charles and Ray Eames and George Nelson, Alexander Girard was one of the leading figures in American design in the post-war period. Although textile design is the main focus of Girard’s work, he is also admired for his graphic art as well as his work in furniture, exhibition and interior design. Girard brought a sensuous playfulness to twentieth-century design that was absent in the austere aesthetics of classical modernism.
During his extensive travels, Girard eagerly collected fabrics and folk art from all over the world. Girard bequeathed most of these objects, along with the contents of his studio, which included hundreds of drawings, prototypes and samples, to the Vitra Design Museum in 1993. One of the graphic designs in the museum archive depicts a smiling sun. This product, created by Alexander Girard for various applications, was selected by Vitra in collaboration with the Girard family as the motif for the metal keychain.
