SuzanneI studied Product Design at ArtEZ University of the Arts in Arnhem, and I was always interested in the development of materials, but very much with a purpose. That fascinated me. And I guess I got into footwear because of the product; it has a lot of restrictions, it’s a very strange shape, and it lends itself to integrating functional aspects and really optimizing the production process. And with knitting there are a lot of opportunities, and a lot of problems that I can solve.

SuzanneI like the fact that you can create your own material and shapes from scratch. Basically you can create a product all in one, which is so cool. On top of that, I think it’s quite versatile – you can really go in different directions and make different kinds of products. I really try to push boundaries and do things that knit normally doesn’t do.

SuzanneI got multiple job offers coming out of school. All the offers were in knit development, but they were either very knit orientated, or not knit oriented at all. I wanted to do both.

When I graduated, I learned how knitting works in the industry; how you work with technicians and how they translate your ideas to the machine. But I wanted to be the designer and the person that handles the machine – and I couldn’t find that experience in the offers that I was getting. I wanted to do it my own way, to learn the knitting design/geometry and the technical side as well, and not be led by how the industry is set up. So I started doing internships to learn how to handle the machines, and I did a lot of training. Then I worked for a while at the Textile Museum, which is a place that develops all kinds of knits and wovens; I got a lot of knowledge out of that.

At some point, Timberland came around with a really cool project idea, and I felt I should go full out for my own company, buy my own machine and really focus on only doing work for the studio. I always believed things should be done differently, and I didn’t want to just send tech packs and get the products back. I really believe in standing next to the machine, experimenting, pushing the boundaries and considering and analyzing the mistakes that a technician might have thrown in the bin.

To be honest, I’m very happy that I did it this way, it felt pretty honest. I would’ve missed the boat and not been fully happy if I had accepted a job at Nike or another big company. I think I took the hardest road by learning how knitting works and learning how to handle a machine alongside setting up a company. But at least I can do it my way, and I think that is so cool. It feels very good that you can put your stamp and really stay true to yourself.

SuzanneYes and no (laughs). I wouldn’t describe myself as a sneaker freak or anything like that, but I like cool shoes. I have an interest in them, but I wouldn’t stand in line for them. 

I follow the industry and I know what is kind of going on, but I’m not a hardcore sneaker fan. I’m more of a nerd around the production process, how things are made, what the innovations are, and that kind of stuff. I find that more interesting.

SuzanneOften they come to me with questions or something they want to explore, let’s say a knit structure, color use, or just my vision on their products. Often, when they come to me with tech packs, I’m like “guys I’m not the person for you. I need to work hands on next to the machine, there is no other way”. So I really always dictate how I want to work.

What I do for companies can be quite varied. It can be from the concept to the final product, and sometimes it can be just a structure that they really like, and I develop it for them specifically. It’s often very much a collaborative approach, and I truly believe in the power of  working very closely with the teams and with the company themselves. I think I often give a fresh perspective and break open their normal way of doing it, showing them different paths. And for me it’s quite insightful because I never worked within a company. I learn a lot from it –seeing how things are done, how bigger companies are operating and why things are done a certain way.

SuzanneI would definitely love to get more into performance! Often the materials I make are not tested for performance. I may know what their behaviour is, but there are no tests to validate if that is applicable to performance. That means that often there are less performance projects and more lifestyle projects. But I really would like to lean more into performance footwear. But at this stage, I feel that color, textures and all that kind of stuff is the most interesting to me right now.

SuzanneI like both knit and color just as much, and to be honest, I cannot see them separately. While I’m creating the knit, I integrate the color to highlight a behaviour of the material, and it’s very much part of the creation of the product. That’s why it’s so interesting to have my skill set because while I’m working next to the machine, I’m still a designer, so I still get hooked on like “oh, this is a very cool color combination”, and I can pull out from the machine a sample that I’m in love with. 

It’s pretty much function and design together. I think if you don’t really know what I do and how I work, then it might be easy to only label it only as “cool color use” or “lifestyle”. But there is so much more depth and research that goes into it than just the beautiful visual aspect that is there. Sometimes I feel that my work it’s not taken seriously from a research perspective, because it is beautiful instead of being nerdy, or black and white.

SuzanneSince they released, I rush to get a pair every time they come out. I wear them almost daily. The design and the way they are made comes together very nicely. It’s a well thought out product.I feel the aesthetic and the way it’s made is so cool and so well highlighted. That’s why I love them. And I also think they’re quite bold in a way, the inside and the outside have different colors. It’s just so very well integrated how the color is applied and it shows through the knits.

You can see here that there are two different yarn feeds that come together, so you have a different pattern, it’s so well done. Also they are very comfortable, lightweight and perfect for the summer.

SuzanneI think it was when these came out (the Flyknit Racer). Also some more textural things, like some Nike basketball shoes, I think are cool. I like when they really try to push the boundaries a bit, like with ISPA– that’s quite cool. But I have to say, I think it’s often quite safe and commercial – we could be doing so much cooler stuff. But also I understand that they’re keeping the prices low, so it has to be safe.

SuzanneSo these are from my graduation work and what I was researching back then. It shows how I can integrate color and create a shape in the process of knitting. These pieces come out of the machine almost as a final piece. It’s made all by hand and in all kinds of shapes as well. I really liked these kinds of lines integrating with colors and shapes. 

For example, there’s one over there that’s super heavy. It still has these two seams here but this one here doesn’t have any seams, and comes fully finished out of the machine. I needed to make some sacrifices and compromises, but it’s possible as well.

And that was actually the same intention with the Peterson & Stoop project; to create something like a double jersey, which is a thicker kind of fabric, that would come fully finished from the machine as well. The goal was to really try to push the boundaries a little bit further than what is done in more conventional knitted products. The idea was to make a shoe using a mono material so it would be easier to recycle. Although there are different colors, it’s all regenerated nylon made from recycled fishing nets. By using only one material, it’s easier to disassemble and recycle it again. That was a big factor as well for us, to create a more simplified product in a way, but more complicated on the other hand (laughs). We showed how you don’t need to combine elastic or melting yarn to have a good product.

SuzanneYes, it’s very hard to predict. For example, you couldn’t find out certain things if you send out a tech pack, which is a document with the exact specifications of what the designer wants the manufacturer to do. And if you just follow the tech pack, you wouldn’t know that the machine cannot create an angle, and you would rule out that machine immediately because it’s not suitable. But for me, because it’s not suitable, I will try to find ways around it. Then all of a sudden, you find a new structure that changes completely, because you took another route. For me, rethinking outside the box, pushing the boundaries and doing things differently is so important.

For example, for this kind of knit, I didn’t know that the colour would shine through in this way. That’s why owning a machine and working next to it is really essential. I couldn’t have done it any other way. That’s what I find most interesting indeed, to see what the properties are and then try to implement them in a product.

SuzanneFor this one specifically, the technician took around for three days. We literally did the whole research in three or four days, like all of it. But it depends sometimes with whom you’re working with. For example, what we did with Peterson & Stoop, was done over the course of a year or two. It really depends on how many buttons you want to turn on, how far you want to go, and how complicated the machine is. But, let’s say, a sample like this really takes half an hour to get it out of the machine – but only if you have the settings right. If you don’t, then it can be like half a day of work, or an entire day. It’s a lot of adjusting and tweaking.

SuzanneYou really need to stay true to yourself, to persevere, and keep in mind where you want to grow towards. And when you face a setback or things get hard, don’t lose sight of that. I think staying curious and pushing the boundaries, enjoying what you do – that’s the most important and sustainable way of doing that. Staying true to yourself and doing it your way is, I think, the essence. But then you need to know yourself (laughs).