Dirk Wynants

Who is Dirk Wynants?

Dirk Wynants is a Flemish furniture designer.

He is the son of cabinet maker and studied interior and furniture design at the Sint-Lucas, Ghent institute for architecture. In order to learn the tricks of the trade he started as an agent for international design collections. Soon he realised that there still were plenty of opportunities in the furniture trade, especially in the outdoor furniture section.

He developed and produced his first idea in his own garage in 1994. This resulted in a round table with four integrated benches, adjustable in height. As a result, children sit higher and closer to the table. Initially the materials used were: stainless steel, galvanised steel and hardwood. Wynants' first design was named Gargantua. Nowadays, this design is considered to be one of the most important design classics in outdoor furniture.

The success was huge and Wynants felt like more. He founded Extremis, a company located in West Flanders, Belgium that designs contemporary outdoor furniture. Along the years, Wynants also collaborated with other internationally renowned designers like Michael Young and Arnold Merckx.

Meanwhile Wynants has won several design awards and a score of management awards.