Atypical and free, Andrée Putman has, during her whole career, constantly imagined bridges, gaps, connections between arts, fashion and design.
Andrée Putman defines herself as “the daughter of two black sheeps, successors themselves of ancient lineage of black sheeps”.
She was born in 1925. Her father is an intellectual, fluent in seven languages, who chose a life of austerity as a reaction to his social environment. Her mother is a whimsical and talented concert pianist, who found solace in picturing herself as a “great artist without a stage”.
Andrée keeps the best from this education: an early taste for arts and the rejection of the bourgeois social conventions.
Andrée Putman becomes journalist for several magazines and then joins, in 1958, a popular French store chain Prisunic as a stylist, where she strives for “creating beautiful things for nothing”: she imagines pieces of furniture and decoration for affordable prices. Later, her work at the style agency Mafia meets remarkable success.
In 1971, she creates with her friend Didier Grumbach an innovative company, specialized in the development of ready-to-wear: Créateurs et Industriels. In the Parisian concept-store she will, guided by her impressive intuition, reveal numerous talents, such as Jean-Charles de Castelbajac, Issey Miyake, Claude Montana or Thierry Mugler.
“My only concern was to tell me “if at least ten people are interested by my work, I will have accomplished something that will carry me during my whole life"
En 1978, Andrée Putman créé la société Ecart et ressuscite les talents oubliés des années 1930 : Eileen Gray, René Herbst, Jean-Michel Frank, Pierre Chareau, Robert Mallet-Stevens, …
She develops a passion for their work, reveals ancients pieces and restores them in order to present them to the public. She develops a catalogue of an invaluable coherence.
The interior design of the Morgans Hotel in New York in 1984, first boutique hotel ever, is a turning point in her career.
She designs, all around the world, hotels, private residences, offices, stores and imagines objects and furniture.
“Sometimes, courage is needed to make a decision which could shock some, but which turns out to be the right one”
Through her achievements, Andrée Putman wishes to reconcile rich and poor materials and to use light in original ways.
In 1997, Andree Putman establishes the Studio Putman, specialized in interior architecture, design and scenography.
In 2007, Andrée wished to open a new chapter, giving to her daughter, Olivia, the reins of her studio. Doing so, she ensured the continuity of a know-how, a brand, a style, a stamp.
Indifferent to tendencies, Andree Putman permanently reminds us that design must sweeten and embellish life.
"I like the beautiful and the useful, and even more the beautiful in the useful."
