Wim Gilles studied engineering at the Dordrecht Polytechnic. He
practiced engineering design before becoming an industrial
product designer in 1949 and a part-time industrial design
educator in 1953. In 1956 he was one of the founders of the
Dutch association of industrial designers KIO, of which he is
an honourary member. Gilles was instrumental in the
establishment of the Bureau of European Design Associations
(BEDA), in which the professional design organizations of the
EEC still co-operate.

Gilles' work in The Netherlands comprised designs for enameled
cast iron and sheet steel kitchen utensils, sanitary ware, solid
fuel and gas heating equipment, washing machines,
ventilators, building hardware, tubular steel domestic and
school furniture, blueprinting machines and mopeds. In
Belgium he was responsible for the corporate image design
and innovative plant layout of a large polyethylene and
polyether foam products industry. His European industrial
design work is part of the permanent collections of the
Rotterdam Museum, Boymans Van Beuningen and the
Municipal Museum of The Hague and documented in several
books.

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