Charlotte Perriand: One of the Greatest Designers You haven't heard of
Last weekend I rushed over to The Design Museum in West London to catch the last day of the Charlotte Perriand exhibition. This French designer, whose life literally spanned the 20th century (1903-1999) is one of my design heroes and yet her name is not famous like Le Corbusier and Jean Prouvé with whom she worked. Her furniture is not in production and, indeed one of the few pieces that is often attributed to her (with a corresponding price tag) was probably just bought in bulk, by her, from an Italian furniture company for Les Arcs, the ski resort she designed in the 1960s.
The exhibition brought together her work and ideas and, it is hoped, will help to bring this incredible woman's work to more prominence. Of course, it is partly because she was a woman - a furniture designer - in a (man's) architect's world. But it is true too that she was also a …