Mahmoud Akram is originally from the Kabul region of Afghanistan. In the nineteen-eighties, after architecture studies at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, he plunged whole-heartedly into the world of design in all its forms: furniture, interior design, clothing and accessories. He is particularly interested in working with innovative materials using original techniques and diverting industrial processes to purposes other than their intended use. Examples of the latter type of experimentation include a laser-cut table made using a method developed by NASA and an openwork cuff-bracelet whose filigree pattern is achieved with acid. Still, he never allows technology to take precedence over aesthetics, creating objects which interpret intriguing themes in spectacular volumes. Since the beginning of his career, Mahmoud Akram has succeeded in combining his activities in fashion and decoration. He has designed the furniture for the restaurant Le Cargo (1984-1987) and collaborated on the interior fittings of the media library of the La Villette Science Museum in Paris (1983-1985). Between 1986 and 1991, he created the “Garçonnière” women’s ready-to-wear collections, and in 1992 the men’s ready-to-wear line and accessories for the Jacques Bogart label. After this excursion in ready-to-wear, Akram returned to industrial design while continuing to develop his jewellery line, creating one-of-a-kind jewels for the haute couture and ready-to-wear shows of Lanvin, Jean-Charles de Castelbajac, Emanuel Ungaro, Pierre Balmain, Givenchy and Christian Lacroix. In 1992, an ANDAM fellowship was awarded to this eclectic, individualistic designer in recognition of his harmonious pursuit of innovation and aesthetics.