Li Edelkoort

Li Edelkoort is a trend forecaster, educator, curator and publisher based in Paris. She has fostered design’s creative talent as chairwoman of the Design Academy Eindhoven between 1998 and 2008. And through Heartwear, a non-profit organisation she co-founded in 1993, she has promoted the continued production of artisan crafts from Morocco, Benin, South Africa and India.

In 2005, Aid to Artisans honoured her with a Lifetime Achievement Award for her support of the creative industries and assigned her to the founding board of its European affiliate. In 2008, both the French Ministry of Culture and the House of Orange (the Dutch Royal Family) honoured her with a knighthood.