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Nov 2019
Almost four years ago, I was walking on the Prinsengracht with a friend. We walked passed a place on number 491 that looked like a pop-up store, so we peeked inside. There I found out that it actually wasn’t a pop-up store, but that the contract of the current store was expiring soon, ready for me to take over. I instantly fell in love with the idea of opening a store there.
Shortly after, we opened The Fitting Room. Everything was designed and organized by ourselves in a very short time, with a lot of help from our friends. It was the perfect time for us to be there, even though we had never had a physical store before. The Nine Streets area was up and coming, with cool neighbors around us like MENDO and DENHAM. I like to compare it to Shoreditch in London, or SoHo in New York - areas that have a vibrant atmosphere, with cool stores and cafes.
That’s also the reason why we’re moving to Bilderdijkstraat 112-114 four years later. The Da Costa neighborhood has that same new energy: an area where you’ll find many new restaurants and stores, just outside of the city center. When my friends from Daily Paper opened their store across the street in 2016, we were already talking about the possibilities of “claiming” this area together. Now we’re able to empower each other, and possibly work together in the future. Together we can contribute to creating a new creative environment in what is already one of the most exciting neighborhoods in Amsterdam.
Opening a new store is not easy. Besides all the construction and logistics, you have to make sure that your clientele finds you. We’ve decided to use this space as our flagship store as well as our office. By doing this, the distance between the drawing table and end-consumer is as short as possible. I have to admit, the future of retail seems rocky. But for a brand like us, it’s essential to be able to offer a physical experience for our products. It’s a meeting place and event space, it’s a way to highlight collaborations and artists, and it’s the perfect way for us to have personal contact with the people who wear our brand.
Our store is open every day, starting now. A new big space that will represent everything our brand stands for. A new start. Hope to see you there.
Olaf.
Tiffany Chung
29 Nov 2021
Text by Tiffany Chung
29 Nov 2021
“In terms of knowing what I wanted to pursue in my career, it was from being at fashion events and afterparties. I wanted to do more than just be a guest. I knew I’d love to be part of it, do nights, program nights, DJ, and everything else. But my actual start in music was just from being around musicians in general and having a community of musicians that gave us the opportunity to DJ for them, produce for them, and get immersed in their own careers."
“We were signed to the same agency when we first started modeling. I was 19 and Ashton was 16. Going to Milan, Paris, all these shows in Europe and America, we just created this bromance from traveling, living, eating, and working out together. Being like-minded individuals, we decided to join forces to create something."
Photography by Travis Gumbs.
With Ashton.
“Whether it’s business, creative, or financial, we both do the same stuff. In terms of role and character, I’d say Ashton is the good cop and I’m the bad cop."
“We were doing a lot of radio shows in London, both commercial and underground, NTS, Rinse FM, Capital XTRA and BBC Radio 1Xtra. We had these small residency series off the back of DJs that were already on those shows and what we wanted to do is to create a show within those spaces but realized very quickly that we had no creative freedom. So, we decided to just make it ourselves and do something that feels a bit more us. Be in a position to pick the guests and tailor it to our own interests. We just wanted to give people inspiring, insightful conversations from people that kind of look like us and speak like us."
“Not really. I just want to keep carrying on with the broadcast and keep creating spaces for me to breathe in when it comes to fashion, music, and lifestyle. Everything else is just up to destiny. I'm just happy with where I'm at now."
“Easily sport. Music is something I listen to every single day. Fashion is something that I have to think about in order to get ready. Sport is something that I do when I have the off time, it's a bit of a hobby, and I'm definitely not making any money from sport haha."
Fashion is something that I have to think about in order to get ready.
Self care.
“Worst advice is probably somebody telling me somewhere along the line of ‘this is impossible, and you can't do this’. The best advice was ‘move towards it’. It wasn't even advice; I was speaking to one of my mentors at the beginning of the year and saying how much juice and energy I have at the moment and how much I wanted to create. His response was actually just ‘move towards it’ and it made me realize that even a step forward is better than a step back, even if it's a tiny step forward. "
“Prada. I loved Prada since I was a child. From the age of 12 to 15, I wore Prada to school. I didn’t go to an affluent school where people had unlimited pools of money, I saved up so much money to buy it. So, it was one of those full circle moments working with them. It wasn't something I did for the paycheck, I'm proud to wear the stuff because of the child in me that just loved to wear them in school."
Working with Prada.
“My staple item would probably be jewelry because we change clothes. So, I would say somewhere between my Cartier bracelet and my Rolex."
“At the moment:"
“Greenwich, probably. I grew up there and it’s so different anywhere else in London. It’s not super fancy and it's not super hood, it's just normal. It’s so diverse, it’s got both historic and new monuments, and the O2 arena. It’s a good balance."
“Berlin. We love Germany. We haven't been able to go back for a while, but we’ve been fortunate to play a few things in Berlin. It's not like there is a massive hip hop presence but the kind of people there just love the music and are there to have a good time."
“The Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg. I’ve never been there but I’m dying to go. It's incredible, from the layout of it, to the chairs, the light, acoustics, the whole thing. The design and architecture make it the best venue in my opinion."
“Person. That’s a hard one. Can I say God? I’ll say God."
“A place that inspires me is London. Naturally. London has so many success stories whether it's football, music, fashion, community lifestyle, culture, business. So many people have made it here."
“In terms of a thing that inspires me, I would probably say, it’s an idea. The idea of achieving everything. Knowing that you could possibly achieve what you put your mind to. Even if you haven’t achieved everything that you want to achieve or know how to exactly, it keeps you going, getting to one hurdle, conquering it, then another. Then you realize everything can be done. I think that is so inspiring."