Born and raised in a family of scientists, Katrien Herdewyn graduated as an electrical engineer with a master's degree in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology at the KULeuven in 2010. After four years of scientific research in Solid State Physics and Magnetism, in combination with studies in fashion footwear design, Katrien started Elegnano to bring her two passions in life together – technology and footwear. Elegnano offers elegant shoes for men and women that are re-engineered and infused with (nano)technology to make them more comfortable and durable.

Elegnano is literally, and figuratively a fusion of elegance and nanotechnology. Since 2014, Katrien has launched several footwear collections and helped other companies across the world connect art and design with (nano)technology and turn prototypes into commercial products. With Elegnano, Katrien has won several national and international awards, including Starter van het Jaar (Unizo, 2015).