Swiss-American designer Philippe Cramer was born in New York City in 1970 but grew up in Geneva. He studied History of Decorative Arts of the 19th and 20th Century at Sotheby’s Educational Studies in London before graduating in 1996 from Parsons School of Design in New York with a Bachelor's in Product Design. Cramer began his career in design at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, working in the Product Development Department for the MoMA Design Store.
In 2001, after relocating to Switzerland, Cramer co-founded the design studio and brand, Cramer and Cramer, with partner Barbara Cramer. In 2003, Cramer and Cramer opened a gallery in Geneva's Quartier des Bains; the heart of the city’s art and culture scene. In 2005, Bernhardt Design launched The Philippe Cramer Collection - the designer’s first furniture line for the U.S. market.
Cramer works across a wide range of mediums from furniture and interior design to jewelry, porcelain, and glassware; bridging the gaps between hand-crafted objects and industrial techniques, or traditional, natural materials with cutting-edge technology. He has described his aesthetic as “sensual minimalism” and aims to create simple, beautiful objects that defy time. Cramer has been commissioned to work on projects with brands like Dom Pérignon, Bernhardt Design, and Georg Jensen and his work has been the focus of several exhibitions, including at Le Garage and the Edward Mitterrand Gallery in Geneva, ArtCurial in Paris, ESF Gallery in Lausanne, and the Spazio Setmani and the Swiss Cultural Centre Culturel of Milan.
Cramer has been commissioned to work on projects with brands like Dom Pérignon (2007), Bernhardt Design (2005), and Georg Jensen (2011) and his work has been the focus of several exhibitions, including at Le Garage (2001) and the Edward Mitterrand Gallery (2003) in Geneva, ArtCurial (2004) and Gallery s.Bensimon (2013) in Paris, ESF Gallery (2009 and 2010) in Lausanne, the Spazio Setmani (2007) and the Swiss Cultural Centre Culturel of Milan (2004, now known as Istituto Svizzero) and the Audi Foundation in Beirut (2017). In 2011, The Geneva Museum of Art and History presented a solo show of his work entitled “L'Ornement Jamais.” The ensemble Cramer created for the exhibition has since been included in the museum’s permanent exhibition.
