René Gabriel was a French designer and interior architect, widely regarded as a key figure in the development of modern French furniture and serial production. Trained in applied arts in Paris, he began exhibiting in the 1920s at the Salon des Artistes Décorateurs, where he promoted a sober, rational, and socially conscious approach to design.

A pioneer of functional, economical, and modular furniture, he developed standardized systems in the 1930s—most notably the RG elements—anticipating industrial production adapted to everyday life. After World War II, he played a decisive role in the postwar reconstruction, designing emergency furniture for bomb-damaged housing.

Also an influential teacher and president of the Société des Artistes Décorateurs, his legacy was formalized after his death with the creation of the René Gabriel Prize, honoring democratic, well-designed furniture intended for mass production.