M. (Milou) Voorwinden

M. (Milou) Voorwinden

Profile

Milou is a PhD candidate at the Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering. Her research is in the field of textile design and seeks to rethink woven textile design methods and processes to support textile-form design and fabrication.
Woven textile-form design is a new approach to manufacturing textile-based products where the textile and form are constructed simultaneously in textile structures, resulting in complex textile behaviour. This manufacturing method allows for future manufacturing processes of localised, on-demand, and zero-waste production. Yet, the prevalent machines, methods, and software in textile design are only partially compatible with this approach.
Her research focuses on exploring the potentials of advanced and lesser-known industrial loom components for woven textile-forms, like creel systems and shuttle looms, to expand the possibilities in woven textile-form design. This approach shifts the emphasis from machines as mere tools to recognising them as integral components of the textile systems, crucial in shaping the structure and design of the textile products.
 


Academic Background

Milou graduated from the Product Design Department of ArtEZ University of the Arts in 2016. After this, she worked as a textile designer and product developer, mainly working with industrial weaving looms. In 2019, she was awarded the Talent Development grant from Creative Industries Fund NL, which allowed her to explore methods for the three-dimensional weaving of products. This sparked her interest to continue in research. She collaborated with researchers and pursued a Master's in Design Research at the Piet Zwart Institute of Willem de Kooning Academy in Rotterdam.
Education:
 
  • 2023 - Present
    • PhD candidate - Delft University of Technology
  • 2021 - 2023 
    • MA Design, Willem de Kooning Academy, Rotterdam
  • 2012 - 2016 
    • BA Product Design, Artez University of the Arts, Arnhem
  • 2015  
    • Erasmus+ program, Textile Design, Falmouth University
Experience
  • 2022 - 2023 
    • Wearable Senses Lab, TU Eindhoven
  • 2022 - 2023 
    • Product Developer, TextielLab Tilburg
  • 2021 - 2022 
    • Research assistant, Multimorphic Textiles, Delft University of Technology
  • 2017 - 2021 
    • Jacquard Designer, EE-Exclusives
  • 2026 - Present
    • Designer, Studio Milou Voorwinden

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