Born 1978 in La Louvière (B) Works and lives in Brussels since 1997

Born in 1991, Belgian designer Pierre-Emmanuel Vandeputte received his master’s degree in industrial design from the ENSAV La Cambre in 2014. Following his graduation, he opened his studio at the « MAD Lab » (MAD Brussels Fashion & Design Platform) working there as a designer since 2015. Since the beginning of his professional career, Pierre-Emmanuel has been invited to exhibit annually in cities such as Copenhagen, Paris, and Milan. From conception to production, Pierre-Emmanuel imbues his designs with a sense of the surreal and a respect for craftsmanship. Each piece has a unique voice, and emotional power. Together, they speak to our more playful and curious nature, inviting us to live experiences unlimited by everyday expectations. His work is enigmatic, challenging what we consider to be evident in order to change habits and perceptions. His designs are indeed symbolic of an urge to break free from the mundane, to chase originality, while staying within the framework of the most noble materials.

Katja Mater is a visual artist and filmmaker, interested in revealing a different or alternative (experience of) reality through capturing the areas where optical media hardly behave like the human eye, recording events that simultaneously can and cannot be – holding midway between information and interpretation. Next to her artist practice Mater is editor and art director for Girls Like Us Magazine; An independent magazine turning the spotlight on an international expanding community of lesbians and queers within arts, culture and activism. Through personal stories, essays and vanguard visuals Girls Like Us unfolds feminist legacies in arts, design and writing. Mixing politics with pleasure, the magazine maps collaborative routes towards a non-patriarchal future.

I am a french artist based in Belgium, Brussel. After finished my studies in France, at the ENSBA, I choose to move in a city full of energies where have my own studio was something possible to get. After few residencies all around the world, US, Japan, China, I decided that the roots are in Europe.

Julien Renault grew up outside of Paris and attended design schools both in France (Reims School of Art and Design) and in Switzerland (ECAL). Two different cultures and approaches to design which have partly shaped Renault’s own way of addressing his work. On one hand artistic, free and personal, on the other hand systemic, objective and rational. Renault uses both pragmatism and intuition when he dives into a new project, creating a dialogue between sense and sensibility. Settled in Belgium, Renault’s studio is steadily growing thanks to long-term collaborations with brands such as Cruso, Hay, Hem, Kewlox, Massproductions, Stattmann …