Marie Cornil (b. 1994) and Alexandre Willaume (b. 1987) met during the 2018 edition of Design Parade at Villa Noailles in Hyères. Their respective backgrounds immediately revealed a natural complementarity. Trained in visual arts at HEAD Geneva before continuing her studies at ECAL in Lausanne, Marie developed a particular sensitivity to colour and textiles. Alexandre, a graduate of ENSCI-Les Ateliers who also studied at the California College of the Arts in San Francisco, has pursued an artistic practice alongside design under the name WANC, bringing together painting, sculpture and material experimentation.

When Marie joined the Studio Bouroullec in 2018, where Alexandre had already worked for nine years, their shared practice gradually began to take shape.

Their first public collaboration came in the summer of 2021 with the Mobile series, presented at Villa Noailles, marking the beginning of their work with Salernes clay. What underpins their practice is less a recognisable style than a way of working. Marie & Alexandre approach each project without a preconceived form. Every commission begins with the discovery of materials, techniques and artisanal know-how, embracing what they describe as «l’art du terrain», where making itself becomes central. This approach gives rise to objects that respond to one another and evolve like a landscape in constant transformation.

In 2022, Fondation Martell in Cognac inaugurated Végétasia, an exhibition born from their encounter with botanist Marc Jeanson and the Fondation’s workshops, centred on the vulnerability of living systems.

That same year marked the beginning of their collaboration with Galerie signé, which has since accompanied the development of their practice through a succession of exhibitions and productions. Across these projects, their work has unfolded in layers: Horizon (2022), Iris (2022), Mou (2023), Berries (2024), and Suspendu (2025), each exhibition opening a new field of experimentation. Marie & Alexandre were also invited to design the scenography for Appartement 50 at Le Corbusier’s Cité Radieuse in Marseille. Organised by Galerie signé, the exhibition marked the reopening of this iconic space. It later travelled to Paris, where it was reimagined for the gallery and presented during Paris Design Week in September 2024.

Alongside their collectible design practice, Marie & Alexandre have developed an editorial practice in collaboration with Petite Friture, Driade and Alki.

Their work also extends to projects commissioned by the French Ministry of Culture, including the design of a room within the Hôtel des Archives in 2024. In 2025, they were among the ten designers invited by the CNAP to take part in Créer un vase, a public commission exploring the vase as a field of research for contemporary design.

That same year, they were selected as Designers of Tomorrow, an initiative by Apple and Design Miami celebrating four emerging designers from the international scene. More recently, they designed a collection of furniture for the Galerie Nationale du Design in Saint-Étienne.

In July 2026, three prototypes from the CR Box System entered the permanent collection of the Centre Pompidou.