An icon of luxurious French Modernism, Jacques Adnet grew up with the 20th Century. He attended the Municipal School of Design in Auxerre and the École des Beaux-Arts Paris. He believed in the functional aspect of furniture combined with geometrical simplicity. Jacques Adnet was inspired by pre-classical styles and was well acquainted with traditional furniture. Until the age of 28, Jacques lived and worked hand in hand with his twin brother Jean at the Studio La Maitrise, where they met the Art Déco designer Maurice Dufrenes. From 1928 to 1960, he directed La Compagnie des Arts Francais. His team of decorators included Francois Jourdain, Charlotte Perriand and Georges Jouve.

CAF provided Adnet with an ideal platform from which to promote his modernist designs. These incorporated precious woods, chromed metals, embellishments such as mirror, leather, parchment and smoked glass in linear styles with decoration pared away wherever possible.

Adnet presided over the Salon des Artistes Decorateurs from 1947 to 1949. During the 50s, he created furniture and concentrated on the numerous commissions he received, such as the decoration of the private apartments of the President at the Elysée Palace or the meeting room of the UNESCO headquarters in Paris. In 1959 he became the director of l'Ecole Superieure Nationale des Arts Decoratifs in Paris until 1970.