interview by Cristina Frasca, february 2022

i am really fascinated by your creations that refer to an apparently suspended time.
they seem to evoke distant memories and yet they are so actual. What is your background?

I don’t have an educational background in fashion. I didn’t study it nor did I work for any other designer before I started my own brand. But my mother used to be a designer, and as a parent she put a lot of effort in our esthetic upbringing: teaching my sister, my brother and me about the worth of sustainability, the richness of natural products and the beauty of comfort and utility. Some are now very contemporary themes of course, but on those subjects, she turned out to be way ahead of her time. When we grew up, our mother had a childrens clothing brand, later she had her leather label called ‘Kai’. I guess the sum of all that has been my education.

 

tell us about your world and your visions.

I don’t have a specific goal with what I am doing. I don’t think of it too much, I work and design on intuition. I do like all good things from the past – ideas and materials that stand the test of time, that have proven to be unambiguously valuable: natural fibers, durable stitching, classic tailoring techniques. I think beauty lies in modesty and suggestively, rather than in explicitly. Clothing should underline your personality, and not take it over. It shouldn’t restrict you in any movement, and I want my clothes to be appropriate for all occasions. When you have to be representable, when you go out for diner, when you want to do some light work in the garden, when it is Sunday and you relax in front of the fireplace.

 

what elements are a source of inspiration for you and give impulse to your creative process?

I always turn to nature for inspiration – when I pick my colors, when I think of structures. I live in the middle of Holland, near the sea, and there is a beautiful nature reserve called the Waterduinen nearby. I go for a walk there as much as I can, so that I can see and experience how the seasons are continually affecting the grasses, the trees, the deers and the colors of the sky.

 

what is your favorite perfume and how much does the involvement of the senses stimulate your creativity?

My son has the best smell in the world obviously. And after him comes my man. The third place is for Notturno from Meo Fusciuni. It is earthy and strong without being loud, personal, layered, thought trough, but not overdone. Like I prefer everything in life.

 

lights and shadows: how important are they in your creations and what is your personal relationship with them? 

The Dutch old masters in painting were famous for their use of light and dark. I can very much relate to their way of looking and admiring these Dutch skies: they can be really unique and mysterious. What makes it particularly interesting to me, is that their colors are never fully white and never fully black, and the fact that it is always something in between what creates depth. For me, nuance is the equivalent of liveliness and to create these nuances, I build up my colors out of different dye baths. For some shades it takes up to 4 baths until I reach the shade I want.

 

is there a place that is particularly special for you?

My atelier. A few years ago, my partner and I moved from the centre of Amsterdam to a place 30 kilometers down south. We now live and work in the middle of the Dutch flower area and my atelier, that's right behind our house, is a 90 years old, 200 square meters flower bulb shed with flower fields front and back. We renovated the building completely; it took me 4 fulltime weeks to restore all 9 original metal windows.

It is completely quiet there, and because it is close to the sea the wind blows fully over the fields and around the atelier. The rain creates a serene sound in our metal rooftop. There is a canal next to our house, where we ice skate when it's freezing outside and swim during summer evenings. I love working in our garden, where in winters the skeletons of the plants look vulnerable yet powerful. During summer, I like to make jam from the fruits we harvest. But in the midst of all this romanticism, the place is now fully isolated, has double glass all around and 40 solar panels on the roof.

 

who is Biek Verstappen and what does she see in front of her?

Well, that’s almost a philosophical question. I don’t have the illusion that I have got myself all figured out yet, even at 38, and becoming a mother recently underlined for me, again, that you can always run into new identities in your life. Fortunately, because that is the exact thing that makes me want to keep doing what I do – although working around some key elements, some central characteristics in my work like the importance of strength, vulnerability, of honesty and durability, the luxury of fabrics and movement. I still have the feeling that in life as well as in my designing, there is a whole world to discover, I will never be ‘done’ developing and I don’t know where the next exit will take me. It is, again, intuition that will take me there. Not knowing what’s next is what keeps me excited and driven.

portrait by Rahi Rezvani