Brothers Ronan (1971) and Erwan (1976) Bouroullec were born in Brittany, France.
Studying at École Nationale des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, Ronan graduated in 1997 and began independent design. Erwan who was younger than his brother assisted him while he completed his own studies at the École des Beaux-Arts in Cergy-Pontoise. On graduating in 1999 Erwan joined Roman in the design studio.
In 1997 they were spotted by Giulio Cappellini - designer and owner of Italian company Cappellini -while exhibiting their “Disintegrated Kitchen” at the Salon du Meuble in Paris. This led to the development of their first industrial design projects including the Lit clos (“Closed Bed”) - which was exhibited at the Milan Furniture Fair in 2000 - and the Spring Chair (2000).
In 2000 they started a long collaboration with Vitra with the office system, Joyn, which was released in 2002. They have since worked on numerous other products for Vitra including the Alcove Sofa (2006), the Slow Chair (2007) and the award-winning outdoor chair, Vegetal (2008). Since 2004, the Bouroullecs have also worked with Magis, for whom they have designed two collections: Striped (2005) and Steelwood (2008).
Today, they design for manufacturers including Vitra, Kvadrat, Magis, Kartell, Established and Sons, Ligne Roset, Issey Miyake and Cappellini. In addition to their product design work they have also embarked on occasional architectural projects.
Their contributions to design have been recognised in many awards and acknowledgements. In 2002 they were voted Designers of the Year at the Salon du Meuble in 2002, their other awards include the Grand Prix du Design, 1998, the New Designer Award at ICFF New York, 1999 and the Finn-Juhl Prize, 2008. They have had several exhibitions devoted to their work and many of their designs are part of museum collections including the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Art Institute of Chicago and the Design Museum in London.