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We are celebrating our new collaboration with BYBORRE! Together we have created a unique 3D knitted fabric inspired by infrared technology and our mascot - the Chilly Billy. This special fabric now lends a distinctive appearance to the 12-piece Stoov & BYBORRE collection.
For the launch of our joint collection, Stoov spoke with Borre Akkersdijk, a Dutch creative known for his inspiring conversations, to discuss the launch of their collaborative collection
B.A.: It was a quite natural story: My girlfriend always sat warming up on the couch with a Stoov cushion, and she once said it would be nice to put a BYBORRE cover around it. At some point, someone in the studio approached me and said, "We are going to collaborate with Stoov."
B.A.: 100%, I think so too. For me, such collaborations are often just a starting point. It's about supporting each other, making an impact. It's about the value of a product and the impact we make. By having this conversation, I'm speaking to your whole community and everyone who buys a Stoov.
We see ourselves more as a platform than a brand. We want to ensure that people can use responsible textiles. We keep asking our partners, "How much do you want to produce?" and "How many products do you really want to sell?" When it comes to business, it's often about linear growth. Everyone has to and wants to grow. But the honest question is: How can we all use fewer resources, produce less, and use the products we have more?
B.A.: We come from the textile world, and the quickest stories you can tell with textiles are in fashion. But originally, I come from the interior side; I spent a long time working with Lidewij Edelkoort in Paris and did a lot of interior projects with Maarten Baas and Joris Laarman (two Dutch design icons).
With our brand BYBORRE, we initially wanted to build a platform around fashion. We wanted to show which yarn suppliers we work with, how we develop textiles, what is special about the textiles, and the form. But it always started with impact. How can we, as a brand, make an impact? Now, the majority of our revenue comes from the interior market because it aligns better with our values.
B.A.: I always walk around and am mainly involved in the initial conversation. But then the process starts, and we like to let brands and designers work on their own. Occasionally, if things don't go well or get difficult, I jump in to help. But more in a facilitating role because I've done it so often.
B.A.: We're trying to make the access to a transparent textile chain accessible and understandable. In the past, you had three or four people and a designer per production step. We want the designer to play within the frameworks and knowledge of each silo, even if they don't understand the machines or yarns. That's why we started developing our open-source software.
Recently, there was a student who won a prize and had a tour of our studio and access to the browser. A day later, he had designed 10 samples. It took me years to do that. That's fantastic, right? I mean, as a person, you can only think of a certain number of things, so you have to open up your knowledge collectively to make progress. Innovation should no longer be kept to yourself! We can only change the world if we keep everything open and transparent in terms of the chain and building blocks.
B.A.: I try to see what the added value is that I can offer so that people might think, "Oh, wait a minute..." I want to see how I can connect people with each other so that you continue to spread a joint mission. My goal is to offer consumers handles in various ways and moments to think for themselves when making a purchase. And not to point fingers, saying you shouldn't buy there, but to make consumers think and come to the conclusion themselves that they don't even want to buy it. No more fast fashion and buying less, moving away from the new new new behavior we're still in.
B.A.: We have grown very organically. For example, we became known in Japan for our excellent quality. There, they look very much at quality and how textiles are made, and then at the design. So, we collaborated with brands and parties that not everyone can easily collaborate with. This even impressed the Japanese media landscape. Then we saw that we were picked up in other countries, and the ball started rolling…
We have always had many connections with the right people and designers in our niche. This made us respected by some of the big stores. They noticed us because we had a certain community around us. The press has always picked us up, that's why we were on front pages and covers, even though we never paid for that.
B.A.: I think the Netherlands has one of the healthiest breeding grounds for creative talent. Schools are good and reasonably accessible. Subsidies are reasonably accessible. You can think big and start small. Recently, I became the face of Creative NL, a platform that advocates for creative talent. There is still a lot of hidden potential and opportunities here to make an impact.
