backBorn in Boxtel, Wanders graduated cum laude from the Hogeschool voor de Kunsten Institute of the Arts Arnhem in 1988 after being expelled from the Design Academy Eindhoven. In 2000 he opened his studio in Amsterdam, gaining attention in 1996 with his Knotted Chair, which paired high tech materials with ‘low tech’ production methods and in 2001 Wanders co-founded the design label Moooi, of which he is co-owner and art director. In 2014 in Wanders works as product and interior designer and art director. Marcel Wanders’ chief concern is bringing the human touch back to design, ushering in what he calls design’s ‘new age’ in which designer, craftsperson and user are reunited. In his process, Marcel Wanders defies design dogma, preferring instead to focus on holistic solutions rather than the technocratic. In this universe, the coldness of industrialism is replaced instead by the poetry, fantasy and romance of different ages, vividly brought to life in the contemporary moment.
