Pierre Maes - Director

Pierre Maes graduated in art history from the University of Liège and dedicated his thesis to the study of the choral tapestries of the Collegiate Church of Montpezat-de-Quercy, France, and to their restoration at De Wit Royal Manufacturers under the direction of Prof. D. Allart, 2017.
Pierre Maes also graduated in human resources management from the Haute École de la Province de Liège, 2010. Since 2020, he has taken on the management of De Wit Royal Manufacturers.

Yvan Maes De Wit – Chairman

Yvan Maes De Wit studied art history and economic sciences at the Catholic University of Leuven and was trained by his grandfather Gaspard De Wit as a master weaver, restorer, and expert. He is a member of the Belgian Association of Art Experts (specialising in tapestries) and an expert appointed by the Brussels Commercial Court. In 1979, he became director of De Wit Royal Manufacturers and has chaired the company since 2020.

Emma Damen – Head of Conservation

Emma Damen graduated in Conservation-Restoration with a specialization in textiles in 2015 at the University of Antwerp. After this, she gained work experience in several places including the Fashion Museum of Antwerp (MoMu) and Brussels (Fashion & Lace) and International Platform for Art Research & Conservation (Iparc). After this, she got the opportunity to start a Baillet-Latour internship at the Conservation Studio of Historical and Contemporary Textiles, Costume and Accessories at the Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage (KIK-IRPA). After her internship, she was able to further specialize in the conservation of tapestries at KIK-IPRA. Since 2022, she joined the De Wit team as head of conservation.

Lise Vandewal - Research Assistant & Project Coordinator

Lise Vandewal obtained her Bachelor’s degree in conservation/restoration from the University of Antwerp in 2018, specialising in textiles. She also holds a Master’s degree in art history from KU Leuven (2021). Since 2025, she has been part of the team at the Royal Manufactory De Wit, in the role of project coordinator and research assistant. Prior to this, she worked at the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, where she conducted research for the FRIABLE project into modern drawings on powdery materials from the collection of the Fin-de-Siècle Museum. Before that, she collaborated on the Charter project and research into the Biblical Museum, both at KU Leuven.