By Glenn Fennema

It's almost the end of november. For me better known as MOvember. But the end of november also means that we are getting closer to the holidays. Time to make a list of gifts, which you can ask your girl, wife, parents. Or just buy it yourself
To make it easier, here is a list with 12 Dutch branded items

The first 4 products of my choice are these products:

1. Scotch &Soda Blue York tee. Cause every man Breda a simple white tee with print in his closet
2. Oger beanie hat. Cool colourway, great quality and made of the best cashmere
3. Kings of Indigo small leather belt. With every jeans you need a good belt. Something like this!
4. Ontour avalanche cardigan.  In my opinion one of the best cardigans out now. Superb colour. You can combine it on a casual or dressed way.

And let's keep the gifts coming.

5.  Kings of Indigo John selvage.  A nice pair of selvage jeans belongs in every closet. An your also supporting our environment.
6. Denham uniform shirt. Known for their jeans. But also denim shirts likes are worth the price.
7. Quality Blanks QB15. With a sherpa inner you won't get cold. Even your hands will be warm. Because of the sherpa in the pockets.  So put on your hood. Put your hands in the pockets and walk into the cold.
8. Amsterdam shoe Co. lace up.  With a cool shoe like you will be rocking that christmas diner for certain.

And now the last 4 already

9.  Good People Akkiri. From the first time I have seen this shirt it's my favorite this season. Hopefully it's also your opinion
10.  Scotch & Soda Barfly. Because everyone needs to smell good.
11.  Ontour no evil gloves. See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil. And also keep your hands warm. Cause you never know when you need them.
12. Ontour Bedrock socks. Outstanding colors so you can roll up your jeans more.

Sitdown: The Good People

By Glenn Fennema and Boris de Bruijn

Last week we had a short rendezvous with Ivo, founder and co-designer from Good People.

 A 5 year old brand from Rotterdam. It’s already quiet big in The Netherlands, with almost 70 shops. And already expanding to Belgium.

When did you start Good People?

I’ve started Good People around 5 years ago. It started out from a time that I had a encountered some financial and personal problems. I wanted to do something with the thoughts I had and the style I liked.

What’s the thought behind Good People?

The thought is that people should follow there own way. Step off from the know ways. Stop taking yourself so seriously. Embrace the moment, remember what life used to feel like and go for it.

From what do you get your inspiration?

I do get my inspiration from all sort of things and brands. A few brands are Folk, Kenzo and Paul Smith.  All brands which are doing there own things and make things they like themselves.

From where do you get your products? And where do you produce your products?

Twice a year we visit Premiére Vision, a fabric fair in Paris. From there we those the fabrics and import them. Those products come from 3 countries. First off I’m getting my wool and a few shirt fabrics from Italy, because of the great quality. I’m also getting shirt fabrics imported from Portugal. For my high end knitwear and shirting I’m using Japanese fabrics.

The production is in Italy, Portugal and Istanbul. It’s all produced by women.

How far is production right now?

Right now they are producing the s/s 13 collection. Also are we producing samples for the a/w winter 13/14 collection. When they are ready they will be send to our showrooms in Antwerp and Rotterdam.

Do you look at the trends? And do you use them in your collection?

Not really. When we visit Premiére Vision, we write down all the trends. From there on we choose 2 trends at maximum. Then we create a collection around those trends. So our collection mainly consists of products within our own style. We have seen that people are more enthusiast when you create something of your own.

What’s your goal with Good People?

My first goal is to make profit, so I can keep doing what I like.

Next to that is to put on a nice, viable brand. So I can do the things that give me pleasure.

What are your future plans with Good People?

Good people has a few plans for the future. First off we want to expand more in The Netherlands and Belgium. Next to that we will be going to Germany and Denmark.

Hopefully after that we can expand to the Scandinavian countries.

Don’t you guys want to expand to England and Italy?

We don’t have plans to go to those countries yet. In my opinion you need to have a great collection, which separates you from other brands. 

Can you explain in what kind of category we can place Good People, because of the difference within your collections?

The problem is that even we can’t place Good People in a corner. But on the other hand, we don’t want to be placed in a corner. We want to supply both denim shops and dressed shops. To give a good example; Twice a year there is the Modefabriek in the Amsterdam RAI. They normally place every company in a category and place them together. But because of the great dressed shirts, but also the fashion shirts they couldn't place us within one category. 

In what kind of shops do you want to see your collections?

I want to see my collections in both dressed shops and denim shops. Stockist like a Gentlemen in Oud-Beijerland is one of our best in the dressed part. But a Lokal Heroz, based in Rotterdam, is better to put in our high end shirts.

For the future it would be great to be in a dressed shops like Oger and also in a denim shops like Tenue de Nîmes.

Do you regret things you have or haven’t done in your last couple of years?

I do regret one thing. The thing is that I haven’t done a fashion related education. I do have a college diploma in Small Business. But when I started Good People I needed to learn every little thing by myself. Also the people I have met and from where I've got my fabrics, helped my out.

First off we want to thank Ivo for his time and for giving all the information. Remember to check out the collection on www.thegoodpeople.nl.