The charmingly eccentric Wooden Doll ensemble was created by Alexander Girard and is based in his fascination with traditional folk art objects. Originally, the American designer created the wooden figures in 1953 for his house in Santa Fe and made the dolls by hand. Today 22 models of Wooden Dolls from Alexander Girard are produced by Vitra. The hand-painted Vitra Wooden Dolls are not only extremely well travelled and enterprising, they also each have a different character - cheerful, grim, sad or tired, and yet all equally as adorable. With their variety of shapes, colours and patterns they refer to Girard's real passion, textile design, where the entire oeuvre of the mid-century designer is inspired by his intense involvement with the folk art of South America, Asia and Eastern Europe.
Wooden Doll No. 18 in the pool
Wooden Doll No. 7 on the beach in Greece
Wooden Doll No. 2 enjoys a splendid summer day
Wooden Doll No. 13 in Tuscany
Wooden Doll No. 1 makes friends in the Alps
Wooden Doll No. 17 visits Lac Léman
Wooden Doll No. 2 in Donegal, Ireland
Alexander Girard's Dolls No. 2 & 12 on an infinite stone beach
Green in Green: Wooden Doll No. 17 at Skogafoss, Iceland
The Wooden Doll No. 18 shopping on Crete
The Wooden Doll No. 1 in the Orient
Vitra Wooden Dolls No. 16 & 22 relaxing on the beach
Wooden Doll No. 11 building sandcastles on the Baltic Sea coast
Girard Wooden Doll No. 6 skiing
Vitra Wooden Dolls No. 12 & 15 take a short break
Vitra Wooden Doll No. 6 enjoying the sun/snow mix
Die Wooden Doll No. 20 loves its snowchum
Vitra Wooden Doll No. 15 enjoys a Street Art Tour
Alexander Girard's Doll No. 2 in Cologne
Vitra Wooden Doll No. 4 visits the Hagia Sofia in Istanbul
Wooden Doll No. 17 enjoys Munich
Alexander Girard's Doll No. 10 high above Copenhagen
Vitra Wooden Doll No. 12 in Prague
Wooden Doll No. 2 von Alexander Girard in London
Wooden Doll No. 3 visits the MoMA, New York
Vitra Wooden Doll No. 2 at the Guggenheim Bilbao
Girard's Little Devil in Marrakech
Vitra Wooden Doll No. 10 loves its dog...
... and cat
Girard's Wooden Dolls No. 2 & 12 enjoy autumn
No. 17 from Girard spending time with its tomatoes
The Alexander Girard Wooden Dolls in the Baumwollspinnerei Leipzig
Vitra Wooden Doll No. 17 is no fan of chopping wood...
Alexander Girard's Wooden Doll No. 13 celebrates easter
Vitra Wooden Doll No. 3 rocking with AC/DC
Wooden Doll No. 18 biting of more than it can chew...
Girard Wooden Doll No. 10 on the train
...Originally created for T&O Alexander Girard's wooden dolls never entered production during his lifetime - as Hermann Miller closed T&O before they could be introduced...
For thousands of men worldwide November ceased to exist in 2003. Since then its all September, October, Movember. Movember? - MOustache / noVEMBER. By the organisers own admission the idea started as an alcohol induced attempt to re-introduce the moustache -...
...In addition to the 1:6 miniatures of classic designer chairs, the Vitra Design Museum collection includes articles varying from Alexander Girard's wooden dolls over Eames Elephants and on to "new" products such as the Classic Trays or the George Nelson ceramic clocks...
