Pierre Paulin

Pierre Paulin (1927–2009) was one of the most important French designers of the twentieth century. Born in Paris, he enrolled at the École Camondo in 1947 and graduated in 1950, trained under Maxime Old and joined Marcel Gascoin’s office; his first success at the 1953 Salon des Arts Ménagers opened a long collaboration with Thonet France.

From the late 1950s he wrapped steel and wood shells in coloured stretch jersey, producing the Orange Slice, Oyster and Tongue chairs that came to define French Pop design. He fitted out private quarters at the Élysée for Presidents Pompidou and Mitterrand and worked for Renault, Air France and the Maison de la Radio. His work is now managed and reissued in France to order by Paulin, Paulin, Paulin, the family project started by his wife Maïa Paulin.