Louis van Praag was a British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 fashion and industrial designer, described as an influence on a generation of British designers from the 1960s onward. Van Praag played a major role in the development of design education

Design education

Design education is the teaching of theory and application in the design of products, services and environments. It encompasses various disciplines of design, such as graphic design, user interface design, web design, packaging design, industrial design, fashion design, information design, interior...

 in Britain over several decades. A lecturer at the capital's Royal College of Art

Royal College of Art

The Royal College of Art is an art school located in London, United Kingdom. It is the world’s only wholly postgraduate university of art and design, offering the degrees of Master of Arts , Master of Philosophy and Doctor of Philosophy...

, he was made chairman of the British government's Committee for Managing Design, and awarded the 1989 Bicentenary Medal by the Royal Society of Arts

Royal Society of Arts

The Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufacturers and Commerce is a British multi-disciplinary institution, based in London. The name Royal Society of Arts is frequently used for brevity...

. His portrait hangs in Britain's National Portrait Gallery.