When we enter the JUNO block at de Binckhorst Rik van Coolwijk (36) at his doorstep. We step inside while he hands us a nice cup of coffee. And with coffee in hand, Rik shows us around his beautiful home where he lives with girlfriend Geertje and dog.
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In 1024 the municipality sold handy buildings and lots in various places in The Hague. “I got the opportunity to buy an old office building together with a group of people, which would be the first housing project on the Binckhorst in fifty years”.
Gokje
It was a bit of a gamble, Rik admits. “Either I would have a house in a boring industrial area or the Binckhorst would slowly change into a new hip residential area. I took that gamble and have not regretted it for a moment.” And we understand that, the house is a beautiful collection of industrial, history and warmth. Rik likes to gamble, but not if it’s his hobby that got out of hand.
Photo: Milene van Arendonk / Indebuurt
Devoted to denim
On the
Instagram page of Rik we see denim, denim and denim. We are naturally curious about that and ask him the denim of his body. “When I was young I didn’t understand that people spent a lot of money on jeans that were already mostly worn out”. That worn look comes from washes. In the final phase of production, the trousers are washed and finished. This way you get a range of colored jeans, from very dark to very light.
“With the thought that I can wear out my jeans myself just by wearing them for a long time, I ended up at dry (raw) denim and the Atelier LaDurance brand. Indescribably beautiful but also way too expensive.” And so Rik’s love for denim began. Seeing that beautiful brand, he started to do research and soon entered the wonderful world of high-end denim and he has not left it.
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Pile of jeans
We have settled down at the table while Rik puts a pile of denim on the table. He shows us the differences between the pants and each pants has its own story. According to Rik, what makes a pair of trousers really good denim depends on several things. “That way you have the material. Preferably a Selvedge Denim.” This way of weaving is not much used anymore because of the high costs. But, if we are to believe Rik, weaving in this way gives a higher quality fabric with more character.
In the years 50 most fabrics were woven on a shuttle loom. These are weaving machines that produce pieces of fabric of approximately 200cm wide. The sides of these pieces of fabric were woven to prevent the fabric from fraying or curling. Because the sides of the pieces of fabric came out of the machine so woven, they were called self-edge. This is where the name selvedge comes from.
He takes another pair of pants and starts talking about the painting technique. “The dyeing technique used is also important and largely determines how the fabric will look after being worn for a long time.”
Photo: Milene van Arendonk / Indebuurt
From Fast Fashion to Slow Fashion
The construction of the pants is also important. With real denim, the point is that a pair of trousers can last for years, not just one season. That is quite different from fast fashion. “There is so much wrong in the fashion industry, I try to stay away from everything that is mass-produced and under appalling conditions as much as possible.” Nowadays it is called a challenge when you do not buy new clothes for three months. With good denim you have pants that will last for years. And let’s face it, denim is something you wear every season, right? According to Rick, yes. “For me, a good pair of denim just gets better over the years. Just as a tree’s growth rings indicate a tree’s growth, scuffs and repairs do with denim. It gives character.”
“I try to be aware of the choices I make. I try to buy less clothes and the clothes I buy are of better quality. I pay attention to the materials used, the production process and who made it.”
Four million unused shoes in the Netherlands
What started with a pair of beautiful denim pants expanded to Rik’s entire wardrobe, where we can also take a look. We see a pair of beautiful shoes. Rik used to wear sneakers, but now the same applies to his shoes as to his pants. “Here too I went looking for shoes that could last a lifetime.”
In
A study by Dresscode we read that almost half of Dutch women have more than fifteen pairs of shoes in their wardrobe, of which at least five pairs are hardly worn or not at all. In men, there are two. When these results are calculated for the entire population, this means that there are at least four million unused shoes in Dutch closets!
“With shoes I think it is important that the materials used are of top quality , but also that the construction of the shoe is constructed in such a way that a good shoemaker can completely disassemble the shoe and always repair it”. Think of it as the fair phone among shoes.
Rik inspires us to take better care of clothes. To investigate where a piece of clothing comes from, how it is made and whether it lasts a bit.
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