Born in Venice in 1928, Willie Landels attended the Art High School in Brera, Milan in 1946. In 1947 he displayed his personal exhibition of surrealist collages at the "Biblioteca Vinciana" in Milan. In 1970 he founded the magazine "Harpers & Queen", of which he was managing director and art director until 1985. In 1963 he designed an armchair for his own use, which was later to become the "Throw-away" armchair, later discovered by Aurelio Zanotta in 1965.