HIDDEN GEMS

Tricker's

Boglioli

Drake's

Druhmor

An appointment with Nicolas Thys brings me to a suburb of Antwerp, there in a remodeled garage he has his showroom with hidden gems. As a real host he welcomes me when I walk up the driveway, and during a cup of coffee he explains how he got into the business.

He explains how a footwear collection of Tricker's starts, it's really building a shoe. You start with choosing a model then the sole, whether it's leather or a light weight. If you choose light weight you have to choose from different color options, then the upper do you want suede or leather and what color? How you want it sewn to the sole? Which color of eyelets? Type and color of the shoestring and finally you have to choose the color of the inner lining. Okay next model, let's start from scratch again.....But not only it is hard to choose the right shoes, it's also difficult to make a decision about what kind of jackets you want from the Boglioli collection or how many color options in a Druhmor pique shirt and, oh no... how many styles from the Drakes collection.........

With a smile on my face I said to him that it must be great to work everyday with these beautiful brands, and he respond with a sentence I never will forget:

  "It's better to sell shit and eat caviar, then sell caviar and eat shit"