About the author
Every now and then I spot them: hand in hand, laughing about an inside joke, looking like an American Apparel commercial. Although I’m a happy single, I do sometimes envy these good-looking couples who are often artistic and interesting individuals that found each other in this crazy little swamp we call Amsterdam. Why is it that so many successful people also have a successful relationship? Does coolness bring people together, or, do cool people attract each other? I will try to find an answer to my quest by doing several interviews with some ridiculously cool couples.
Summer in Amsterdam has officially started. It seems like everyone starts going a little crazy as soon as the temperature rises above 25 degrees. The good old swamp turns into a hot, sweaty jungle, complete with outdoor grills, long nights, heavy drinking, and occasional trips to a coast we forgot we had. Fresh young men from out of town visit our capital, get infected with jungle fever and for us, local singles, hunting season is re-opened. Still on my eternal struggle to find epic love, I decided to broaden my horizon. After all, cool couples are found in all shapes, sizes and genders. After a long search I came across this awesome duo. They might not be Viktor and Rolf, but they are certainly not far from it. They inspire each other in both relationship and profession, and together they are one of the coolest couples in town. Read on to get to know more about them but I should warn you: they will only get your temperature rising higher.
SONNY & WIKKIE
Can you give us a brief introduction?
Sonny: “I finished high-school and started working at a PR-bureau. I did my internship there and began working as an assistant-stylist. I then became fashion editor at BLEND, and eventually started working for myself. Now I mainly work as a stylist and as a consultant for a variety of brands with whom I brainstorm about upcoming collections, presentations and shows. More often I’m in charge of choosing the teams, the models and lately even deciding on key-pieces, press-samples and more.”
Wikkie: “I studied at NIMETO in Utrecht. After I finished school I felt a little lost; I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life. At the time I had some small jobs, one of which included modelling. I was scouted when I was 18 and that’s how I slowly became involved in fashion. After a while I realized that I it was much more exciting to be at the other end of the camera, to create a product instead of being one. I went to the Fotovakschool and I’ve been working as a fashion photographer for two years now.”
How did you two meet?
Sonny: “We met at TRUT. We had some mutual friends, but we didn’t get the chance to talk that night. The next day I texted Wikkie and asked him if he wanted to get some coffee. We sat down on a terrace and just started to talk. We couldn’t stop talking, and the coffee-drinking turned into a late dinner. We’ve been together every day since! Does that sound corny?”
Wikkie: “it sounds romantic!”
Do you have different visions on styles in fashion?
Sonny: “We both see things from a different angle. My vision is mainly based on references. I’m inspired by fashion designers, existing collections. Wikkie on the other hand, relies much more on his intuition. He looks at things and feels something or feels nothing. His taste is not so structured, it’s based on associations. He just gets this vibe and starts creating around that feeling. Sometimes I say to him, “wow, that’s so Vogue 2005’, and he has no idea what I’m talking about.”
Wikkie: “It’s so nice that you can give your honest opinion to each other. Normally you can’t say that you think something is total shit. But we can be really straightforward about how we feel.”
How do you stay loyal to your creative ideas and still pay rent?
Sonny: “The most important thing is to handle you budget wisely. For example; pull jobs towards you, arrange your own team and take control. The more you are in control, the less money you have to spend and the better the result is. The downside is that you have to work your ass off. But money is always an issue. The more we grow, the higher the costs, for example; working with a celebrity means you can’t just get basic things from high-street stores, you have to invest more money in quality and certain brands.”
Do you think the financial crisis that’s going on now influences your work?
Wikkie: “We don’t notice it really, I guess because we never had a lot of money. But I don’t know into what extend the crisis is a negative thing.. Maybe fewer things are possible, but there is also a lot of space for refreshing, new and progressive work. You just have to work harder to prove yourself. You have to put love and devotion into your work. For us that means that this is a time with great opportunities.”
How do you see yourselves in the future?
Sonny: “We would love to have a team of a group of people, like a small family, that travels around the world with us to make beautiful work. To make things that will inspire ourselves and others. We firmly believe that we will always combine our work and our private life, for us it’s just one thing. We both really like Amsterdam, for now, this is a really good place for us. But maybe in the future there will come a time where we will cross the border, but for now we like the travelling back and forth.”
Photography by Faye Lui
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