Dutch designer Hellen van Berkel has been making scarves for 30 years, however, she only started her own brand 10 years ago.
“I used to work for other companies and about 10 years ago I decided to venture out on my own,” she says.
The scarves are designed in the Netherlands and partly manufactured in Italy, China and India.
“I always look for the best combination between colour, material and design. Nature inspires my designs. I live in the country, but I also travel a lot and see a lot of different things. However, I am not overly influenced by fashion, in particular fast fashion.
“I want people to buy a piece that will last for years and years to come. I work with good, ethical suppliers, but I believe there is a grey area when it comes to ethical. Everyone is now saying they are an ethical business because it sells and that is not right.”
Van Berkel has found her own niche with her products, garnering a lot of interest from musea.
“I kind of fall between a lot of different things. I’m not overly commercial but I think I have found a gap between musea, fashion and textiles. I work a lot with musea, especially with the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.”
Indeed, at Maison&Objet she found there was a lot of interest from musea located in Italy, France and Australia.
“My products are very good quality, they are made of silk, cashmere, wool and cotton. I exhibited at Maison&Objet to reach a broader audience. The Netherlands is very small so I needed to dip into a bigger pool. To be honest, when someone says ‘wow, that is beautiful’ but they don’t buy anything, I’m just as happy.”
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