BIOGRAPHICAL CATALOG OF THE MODEM'S COVERS AUTHORS

7 2000 DESIGNER Andrée Putman (1925 - 2013, France) was a French interior and product designer, known for her Minimalist, avant-garde furnishings and interior designs. Her signature are black-and-white checkerboard tiles; interiors are away from the “vulgarity” of traditional luxury: she opt simple, but yet opulent sense of comfort. Putman studied piano at the Paris Conservatory. But soon after, she turned her back on a career in music, because of her growing interest in visual arts, contemporary painting, in particular. Her musical training influenced the way of interpretation of the balance, harmony, and rhythm in her designs through the restraint of simple lines, monochromatic colours, and unique combinations of materials. Her professional life started as a journalist at Femina magazine ; from 1952 she was a design columnist at Elle , she worked at L’Oeil as the interiors editor from 1960 to 1964. Self-taught in design, she was also a stylist for the Prisunic department stores in Paris from 1958 to 1967. In the end of the 1970’s, she founded her own furnishings and interior design business, Écart . That’s where she started to create boutiques for high-end fashion designers as Thierry Mugler, Yves Saint Laurent, and Karl Lagerfeld. Putman was honored with Interior Design Hall of Fame Award, Grand Prix National de la Création Industrielle, and many others. In the late 1990’s she created sets for Peter Greenaway ’s 1996 film The Pillow Book. Modem Men’s Modem New York/LA Fall-Winter 2000-2001 Covers by ANDRÉE PUTMAN