Frans de la Haye (1943), designer, teacher. De la Haye, born in Oostzaan, studied mechanical engineering and, through the Institute for Industrial Design, he joined the design firm CAR, after which he attended the industrial design weekend training at the Academy of Art in The Hague. At CAR, he worked closely with Kho Liang Ie. Around 1970, he started working as a freelance designer in The Hague, where he also worked with TEL Design for four years. De la Haye had an extensive relationship with Auping, for whom he designed the successful Auronde bed in 1972. Other companies he worked for included Ahrend (the Centennial chair), Van Berkel (weighing and cutting machines), PTT (terminal equipment, control rooms, postman carts) and KLM (passenger offices). He has established himself as De la Haye Design since 1982. During the ‘80s, De la Haye developed a new petrol station for Shell. He also taught at the Eindhoven Academy of Industrial Design specialising in Man and Transport.

The Dutch version of this biography is taken from the book Visies op vormgeving, het Nederlandse ontwerpen in teksten deel 2: 1940-2000 (2008) by Frederike Huygen. The following sources have been used for this biography:
– Huygen, F. ‘De stylistische levensduur moet gelijk zijn aan de functionele. Interview met Frans de la Haye’, Items 4 (1985) 17, pp. 10-15.
– Kerkvliet, G., Well Groeneveld, W. van (ed.) ‘Industrial Design in Practice. Design Academy Eindhoven. Interviews with former students’, Eindhoven (AIVE) 1987.