Count Alexis de Sakhnoffsky was a Russian-born aristocrat, artist, and industrial designer who became one of the most influential figures in American Streamline Moderne design during the 1930s and 1940s. Born into a noble family in the Russian Empire, he fled Russia after the Revolution and eventually settled in the United States, where his background in engineering, architecture, and fine art uniquely positioned him to shape the look of modern American industry.

De Sakhnoffsky is best known for his work in automotive design, particularly his collaboration with General Motors. His most famous contribution is often cited as his role in the aerodynamic styling philosophy that influenced late-1930s GM vehicles. He was a vocal proponent of streamlining not just as decoration, but as a functional, performance-driven principle rooted in engineering and airflow. His theories helped define what Americans came to recognize as “modern” design.

Beyond automobiles, he worked across a wide range of industrial and consumer objects, including appliances, furniture, aviation components, radios, clocks, and interior environments. His designs consistently emphasized speed, movement, curvature, and visual continuity, translating the language of aviation and racing into everyday life. During World War II, he also contributed to military design and training materials related to aircraft recognition and camouflage.

Heywood-Wakefield engaged him as a consulting designer in the late 1930s, particularly to bring true aerodynamic logic into furniture forms. Importantly, Sakhnoffsky was not a catalog “line designer” for Heywood in the way Jiranek was. Instead, he functioned more as a visionary stylist and aerodynamic consultant, helping to push the brand toward authentic Streamline design language at a moment when American furniture was catching up to aviation, automotive, and industrial form-making.