3 Suisses

Xavier Toulemende founded this French mail order company in 1932 and it rapidly expanded in the years leading up to the outbreak of the Second World War. Equally remarkable was the dramatic increase in the circulation of its catalogue, the first of which was launched in 1949. By the mid-1990s more than 6 million copies were issued. From the late 1970s onwards well-known contemporary designers such as Agnès B, Guy Paulin, and Issey Miyake were commissioned to work on the company's lines. Furniture and product design by eminent designers such as Gae Aulenti and Philippe Starck featured in 3 Suisses catalogues from the mid-1980s onwards.