Andree Putman

Andrée Putman (1925–2013) created a refined, graphic, and contrasting style, blending classical elegance with radical modernity. With her distinctive and sophisticated presence, she left a lasting impression on her contemporaries, both through her personality and her vision.

Adored in the United States with the Morgans Hotel in New York, she returned to France where she pushed the boundaries of space, pioneering an approach that foreshadowed the “loft” aesthetic. Her apartment in Saint-Germain-des-Prés fully embodied this bold spatial and aesthetic language, which became her signature.

Renowned for her formal precision, she approached interior design as a rigorous composition, both structured and expressive. A pioneer in brand collaborations, she engaged in dialogue with the artists of her time, from Keith Haring to Andy Warhol, and frequented Studio 54 and Le Palace in Paris, epicenters of the creative scene, which she shared with leading figures in fashion and art.

She belonged to that generation of Parisian talents—Mugler, Alaïa, Saint Laurent, Karl Lagerfeld (a close friend)—with whom she shared an uncompromising sense of style. At a time when few traveled internationally, she established herself, like Starck, as one of the first French designers to achieve global recognition.

Her studio trained a generation of designers, all deeply influenced by her rigorous standards. Nicknamed the “high priestess of design,” the “grande dame of design,” or even the “Coco Chanel of design,” her work was celebrated for its clarity and avant-garde modernism — and her name continues to inspire sincere emotion.