Van De Velde

Henry Van De Velde (1863-1957). Belgian painter and designer. Protagonist of the Art Nouveau movement. He designed and made, with his wife Maria Séte, avant-garde outfits decorated with syntethic linear motifs in a “dynamic graphic style.” In 1900, he published Die Kunstlerische Hebung der Frauentracht, a text in which he declared his intention to rationalize women’s fashion with the elimination of frivolous and superfluous details in favor, instead, of an essential linear cut that would be in line with Art Nouveau architecture, art and design. Put into production from 1897 on, Van De Velde’s outfits were almost immediately exhibited at the museum of Krefeld.