Maarten Van Severen came from an artistic family. His father, Dan Van Severen, was the abstract working artist and his brother Fabian Van Severen is also designer. Maarten Van Severen studied architecture in Ghent, and designed furniture from 1986. He is considered one of the few Belgian designers who penetrated the international Design Olympics. Van Severen died in 2005 at the age of 48 from the effects of cancer