Textile design has always been at the heart of Dutch designer Mae Engelgeer’s work, from her high schooldays to her studies at the Amsterdam Fashion Institute and Sandberg Instituut. Since 2013, she has nurtured her curiosity for the craft, experimenting within the existing boundaries of textile production to elevate old techniques to a modern stage. Mae Engelgeer’s work embraces subtle colour palettes, patterns and linear elements. Complex compositions merge with perfection to establish harmony. Creative explorations into the contrasting of materials and textures result in works that are luxurious in their tactility and dimensionality. In addition to developing her own collections, Mae Engelgeer collaborates with brands around the world on projects ranging from textile products and furniture design to material explorations and art direction to large-scale installations and public artworks.
Her continuous quest for innovation eventually led Mae Engelgeer to relocate to Kyoto, Japan, which has become a profound source of inspiration for her creative process. Immersed in the city’s rich heritage, she collaborates closely with exceptional local artisans, works on textile collections and projects with HOSOO, a historic textile house dating back to 1688. Fascinated by the poetry of Japanese craftsmanship, she reinterprets ancestral techniques like Nishijin-ori weaving through a modern lens, infusing traditional methods with unexpected materials like washi paper. This creative dialogue with Japanese culture culminated in her solo exhibition “Utsuroi Hymn” at the sacred Ryosokuin Zen Temple, where she was granted rare access to reimagine ancient textile fragments from the temple’s archives. Today, the fruits of this Japanese-Dutch synergy bridge contemporary design and ancient poetry, earning her works a permanent place in renowned art institutions such as the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam. Mae Engelgeer has been represented by Spazio Nobile since 2024.
