In the last few weeks Hul le Kes has gained many new employees. Because our wholesale season for the upcoming autumn/winter 2023 collection will start soon we would like to introduce you to one of them; Gonneke Stroom. Gonneke has been working for Hul le Kes as a wholesale agent for about one year now, but now started working at our studio for one day a week and became one of our team members. Would you like to know all our team members? Then go to our team page on this website. Here a small introduction to Gonneke:
Gonneke graduated from the institute of Arts in Maastricht in 1996. After finishing her studies she worked for several brands as a designer and stylist. In 2019 she started her own fashion agency in Belgium. For one year she has now represented the Hul le Kes collection for our wholesale (inter)nationally.
Gonneke is a mother of three children and grew up in Arnhem. In 1991 she left Arnhem to study in Maastricht, in the south of the Netherlands. She hesitated between becoming a midwife and designer and so she became a designer for children’s clothing. After gaining a lot of experience with commercial brands Gonneke soon found out that it was important to her to also support the philosophy of a brand. The very commercial fashion industry was a good learning experience about how the system works, but she missed the soul of a collection. She decided to work with and for brands with an honest story that suited her personality; brands with a vision she truly believed in.
After living and working in Belgium for almost 30 years she is now back in the Netherlands since 2021; in our beloved Arnhem. It feels like coming home for Gonneke. In Arnhem she got to know Sjaak through an article in the newspaper (Volkskrant). She thinks his vision and philosophy on fashion and beauty is beautiful. They met and have been working together ever since.
Gonneke loves beautifully made products, products with a story, products or clothes that have lived. That is also what she finds so interesting about the Hul le Kes brand. At the same time Gonneke loves the glamorous part of fashion involving lipstick and high heels! Gonneke tries to buy and wear original designs whenever possible. She has been doing this for a very long time already because “Good design lasts!”. That way she tries to keep her inner fashionista as sustainable as possible. Besides that it is good to buy things from people you want to support, showing your love to them and their mission.
Gonneke is proud to be part of Hul le Kes that originated in Arnhem, where it is designed and made, and proud to be part of a fantastic team. “Their cooperation with the care and openness to people, how they understand the values of so many different people at Hul le Kes I find very special and very important in these times. It is a warm, open, creative company that is looking for new opportunities in the fashion world.”
For information about our wholesale you can reach Gonneke by email, she is at our studio for one day a week and works from home. Besides our wholesale she is also responsible for the wholesale of our sustainability-friend ‘Gray Label’.
Visit us at our wholesale showrooms for the autumn/winter 2023 collection in Belgium, the Netherlands and France. Scroll down for more information.
February 13 – 19, Sint Katelijnestraat 53, 2800 Mechelen, Belgium | February 20 – 24, Wezenstraat 5, 6811 CR Arnhem, the Netherlands | March 3 – 6, 21 Rue des Filles du Calvaire, 75003 Paris, France
Would you like to see our autumn/winter 2023 wholesale collection? Please always make your appointment with Gonneke first!
