business with jeroen van der heide
Jeroen van der Heide is a startup expert based in The Netherlands with a long-spanning career in the fashion industry. At the beginning of his career, he worked for brands such as Karl Lagerfeld and Hans Ubbink. As time progressed, Van der Heide realized that he wanted to do something impactful within the industry and utilize his knowledge to help startup companies while building a more sustainable and ethical future. I reached out for an interview to which he kindly obliged, and I found myself eager to gain insights into the present and future state of the fashion world.
What are some business trends you’ve noticed recently and what are some changes you expect to see over the next few years?
What I’ve seen in the past year to five years…as I mentor, I see a lot of effort in fabrics. They are different from what we’re used to in the sense of replacements for textiles like cotton. A company I know of is working on making lab-grown leather. Technology will change a lot of things. I think it’ll give the fashion industry a boost. I also see a lot of technology utilization in terms of supply chain transparency. That’s a great way to let the consumer know what they’re buying. I think most manufacturers don’t even know what they’re selling, so the consumer doesn’t have any clue. It’s awesome to see this progress being made.
For sure! Even just a few years ago, there was virtually no transparency from brands, but thanks to technology and social media, we’ve been able to ask more of the brands we’re buying from to gain transparency. It’s been amazing to see.
Exactly, and I know firsthand there are many solutions already out there which solve many of the problems we have. They need to gain some more traction and consumer awareness so people can support these new companies.
“Stay open and explore. That’s important.”
Have you noticed there has been a greater shift for companies to emphasize being ethical or to at least give back in some way?
Yes, I definitely think so, especially the companies I work with which are startups. They basically take a blank piece of paper and write down their values and figure out if they want to start giving back. It’s all people, the planet, and profits. Which, of course, trickles down and extends towards more corporate, larger companies that already have a lot of influence in the fashion industry. The power of the consumer is moving. I think it’s even bigger than people realize. In the end, if they all say, ‘I want only to buy this biodegradable, or circular, or vegan, or what-have-you,’ then the big corporations need to move as well because they want to keep earning money. If the consumer stops purchasing, they have to move. The big corporations move slowly, of course. I always compare them to oil tankers so they’re very slow to change direction and they also have greater responsibilities. It’s different from a newer, smaller company that’s more like a speedboat that can change directions quickly. It’s small steps, but it can move faster, in my opinion.
One company you’ve been working with that’s been so instrumental in this shift is Fashion for Good. Do you want to share a little bit about your experience working with them and what that’s been like for you?
Yeah, it was a natural fit. I started with my own circular t-shirt label eight years ago. Before that, I worked with a lot of corporations, so it was very nice to be asked to be a mentor there, and to share my experience in fashion and circularity. It’s an awesome program. Again, there are so many incredible solutions I already see. I think it’s great that they focus on technology. It’s not like designers without a new collection aren’t able to get into the program. They’re really focused on technology which can change the whole industry. I think they have a broad scope regarding industry change. It’s awesome to see companies from Holland, Australia, the US, France, and Germany…it’s a pleasure to see the international change.
Yes, the work Fashion for Good does is so important and I can see your passion and values shine through, so that collaboration makes total sense. I wanted to ask you about another mentorship program you’re part of for a company called FashionTECH Milan. Is that similar to what you do at Fashion for Good, or is there a greater focus on entrepreneurship?
It’s a little bit different in that sense. It starts with the startup boot camp, I think they’re one of the biggest accelerators in the world. There’s a lot of mentorship and entrepreneurship that I support. They also have a focus on technology. That’s also from Amsterdam. Small Amsterdam, it seems, really has a lot of fashion influence and, of course, Milan does as well so, it’s both. I love entrepreneurship. I think it’s one of the best things to do. It’s a very challenging thing to do, but it’s amazing to support those initiatives and help them with their business models, marketing, or sales. I can really share my experience with them and hopefully, they can learn something.
What was your inspiration to begin working with companies that hold ethical values closely and why did that become important to you, personally?
I worked for a long time in the fashion industry where I did amazing things. I got to travel the world, I worked with Karl Lagerfeld, Tommy Hilfiger, and Calvin Klein. It’s a nice list to have worked for. I learned a lot. At a certain point, you get a little bit older, and you think, ‘I see some flaws in the system.’ You try to change things within, but it’s difficult. It was amazing to say goodbye, in a sense, to my first life in fashion and start a second life with my own company to help others. For me, it’s an amazing journey. I learn from them, and they learn from me. It’s all about giving back. I have some knowledge. I don’t know everything, but I have some and it's great to pass it along; especially when you see a certain shift within somebody and they take the next step. For me, it’s all about making the biggest impact possible. If I help 100 or 1000 companies throughout the rest of my journey and they do something good, then my impact is huge. So, that’s my passion. That’s my drive.
Looking back at your journey when you worked for those incredible brands, that must’ve been like a masterclass of sorts just getting to see everything unfold and realizing what could be done differently. You mentioned as well that you’ve started your own business, so what has that journey been like for you?
If you really want to learn something about yourself, you should definitely start a company. It’s like a mirror. You can see what you’re good at, or at certain points, if you’re not as good or need to learn it really comes back in your face. You need to make a choice to either step up and learn or not. You either fail or you succeed, there’s nothing in between in business. That’s what makes it really challenging. I had a certain point where I was in the fashion industry. I had a great life, I had a great paycheck, and I got to travel. I had everything you need to supposedly be happy. For me, it didn’t fit with my values anymore. Now, I am still critical because there are many solutions, but most of them don’t solve the cause, they solve the result. If you really want to resolve things, you have to go to the source. It’s like if you have a headache, you take an aspirin, but often there is something else that caused the headache. That’s why I also started my t-shirt label to look at the cause I saw in the fashion industry. It's very driven by numbers. You need to have volume. If you go to a manufacturer, they say, ‘of course, I want to manufacture,’ but then they need at least four hundred pieces per color to produce at an affordable price. So, I looked to see how I could turn the whole business model on its head. I spoke with my community of buyers and designers and brought them together. I used circular garments. Once it’s been used, customers could send it back and get like ten euros, then I’d recycle again and use the materials. So, I had less production and I had recycling. I had crowdfunding as well, which made it very hard in the sense that eight years ago, investors were like, ‘Circular economy is a stupid business model, you’ll never earn money, please quit.’ So, I was like, ‘No, this is the way to go.’ I did a lot of crowdfunding on my own. I had investors, but they were consumers as well. I went back to them to reinvest. There’s a group of people who are willing to wait and willing to pay more because, for them, it’s important to support this change in the fashion industry. It was not an easy journey but it was fun and I learned a lot. At a certain point, I sold my company. I thought, ‘Okay, I can imagine a lot of other entrepreneurs want to change things, but we’re not there yet and they’re not getting much assistance.’ Most people are happy with what they have and don’t want to improve or change. If you’re in the small percentage that really wants to change, then you’re taking a risk. That’s what I like and I think I truly understand entrepreneurs who are walking the journey because I also walked the journey. I know how challenging it can be when people say no to you and don’t really see what you see. That’s why I enjoy helping them [entrepreneurs] and supporting them with what I do now.
I know at this point you’ve already achieved quite a lot, but what are some other things you’d like to accomplish within the next five years?
I’m working on setting up another company. Once you do it you kind of get addicted to it. I strongly believe in Web3. It’s so small now, but for me, it’s going to be the new internet. It’s already happening, but it’s still early stages. I think that will be a major shift so I’m working to work more in that area. I think it’s great to have NFTs in the fashion industry for authentication. It’s a great tool to use for secondhand [selling], especially for big labels like Gucci or Prada. I think there’s much to do and a lot of fun things. I always like to do fun things because life’s too short, enjoy it. I also really enjoy the whole attitude toward Blockchain and Crypto. I like to be in the front-running. That’s my addiction as well – I like to do new things.
Do you have a piece of advice you’d like to give to designers, or anyone starting their own brand or business?
It depends. If you want to get an investor in, what I’ve learned is to ask for advice first. There’s a saying, ‘Ask for advice and get money twice, if you ask for money, you get advice.’ The second point is to learn. When people say no, ask them why. You can learn from it. It’s nothing personal, but they can really help you to improve. You always want to hear yes, but the no is often important as well if you want to improve.
That’s such a great point about utilizing rejection as a learning experience. I think, oftentimes, we have the tendency to shut down when we’re told no. Learning and growing from those moments is so crucial and it’s sage advice.
And it’s not easy, right? Stay open and explore. That’s important.