The Belgian design scene is vast and diverse. Belgian institutions are always at the forefront of supporting the people, new projects and products that make our country dynamic and unique.
Charlotte Lancelot and Bram Vanderbeke are the Designers of the Year 2026!
Charlotte Lancelot and Bram Vanderbeke are the Designers of the Year 2026. On this special 20th edition of the award, the jury exceptionally chose to honour two practices.
“With this dual honour, we wish to paint a complementary portrait of the current Belgian design scene. On the one hand, industrial production; on the other, independent craft production. On the one hand, a woman; on the other, a man, each expressing themselves in a different national language. A soft, colourful and warm world, set against a monochrome, bold and powerful counterpoint, in stone or metal. Together, they strike the perfect balance for this 21st edition.” reported the jury.
The 2026 jury consisted of Evelien Bracke (Design Museum Gent), Maarten De Ceulaer (Designer of the Year 2025), Lisa Declercq (Design Nation/Designregio Kortrijk/Wonder Festival), Lauren Fonteyn (Flanders District of Creativity), Giorgia Morero (Wallonie-Bruxelles Design Mode), Marie Pok (CID Grand Hornu), Amélie Rombauts (Knack Weekend & Le Vif Weekend), Dieter Van den Storm (MAD Brussels) et Maud Willaerts (Design Museum Brussels).
About Charlotte Lancelot
Charlotte Lancelot has built her practice around a fascination with materials, techniques and the way in which objects can forge human connections. After studying industrial design at La Cambre, she set up her own studio in 2006. Today, she combines her work as a designer with a teaching role on the Master’s programme in Social Innovation Design in Brussels. Her career has led her to collaborate with brands (GAN Rugs, Ames, Koziol,..), manufacturers, architects and institutions, with whom she explores new forms and ways of working at the crossroads of innovation, craftsmanship and aesthetic expression.
Through her projects, Charlotte Lancelot explores what connects us to objects and the experiences they evoke. She draws on shared sensory experiences to find new ways of expressing what is deeply familiar to us. Her creations are thus characterised by a sensitive approach to form and material, where functionality and emotion converge, with the aim of transcending trends to stand the test of time.
About Bram Vanderbeke
Bram Vanderbeke is a Belgian artist and designer based in Ghent. He graduated from the Design Academy Eindhoven in 2016, having previously studied design at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Ghent. His practice is diverse yet coherent and is characterised by its material, sculptural and monumental qualities.
Bram explores and transforms the possible interactions between an object, its architectural environment and the user, whilst continuing to be challenged by materiality, form and functionality. His works are both autonomous artistic expressions and functional solutions, an ambiguity he deliberately cultivates. He creates his architectural objects and rhythmic installations in a wide variety of scales, in both private and public contexts. His works often influence the spatial perception of the environment in which they are situated, either by extending it or by creating a new space within it.
Bram Vanderbeke is one of the founders of BRUT, a collective of Belgian designers. He also collaborates with Uppercut (BE), Gallery Hioco/Delany (BE), Galerie VIVID (NL) and Nilufar Gallery (IT).
--
About the Designer of the Year Award
The award is an initiative by the magazines Vif Weekend, Knack Weekend and the former Kortrijk Interieur Biennale. The award was presented for the first time in 2006, during the 20th edition of Interieur, with the aim of showcasing Belgian design talent. Alain Berteau was the first to receive this honour.
Alain Berteau was the first designer to be awarded, followed by Nedda El-Asmar, Stefan Schöning, Sylvain Willenz, Bram Boo, Nathalie Dewez, Alain Gilles, Jean-François d’Or, Marina Bautier, Muller Van Severen, Vincent Van Duysen, Unfold, Frederic Delbart, Destroyers/Builders (Linde Freya Tangelder), Sep Verboom, Sébastien Caporusso, Studio Biskt, Julien Renault, Paulineplusluis and Maarten De Ceulaer.
They all stand out for their vision, their consistency and their cultural relevance.
