In conversation with Daan Baeten
Exclusive interview with the founder of NUBIKK, Daan Baeten.
What made you decide to start your footwear company back in 2012?
As a son from a family with three generations of leather and shoemaking experience, I rolled into the shoe business. Back in 2012, I felt the need to start my own business because I missed a comfortable, fashionable shoe at a fair price. With all the experience I’ve gained from my family in combination with my drive and passion to create things, I started NUBIKK, a shoe brand that believes fashion should go hand in hand with comfort.
What makes Nubikk unique and what is the purpose of creating the shoes?
At NUBIKK we create leather products, from the best Italian leathers, with lightweight soles throughout the entire collection to reach the best comfort. Because customers like the same lush feeling as experienced when wearing sportswear. Additionally, the same level of cushioned insoles is now also used in NUBIKK’s formal wear for women and men, like the high heeled boots and espadrilles. So the purpose of it all is to bring fashionable shoes, combined with comfort, to a wide audience.
How important do you think sustainability is becoming, and how do you incorporate it within your brand?
Sustainability is indeed a very important topic. At NUBIKK, every department is working very hard to look at the possibilities to leave the smallest footprint possible. For example, we care very much about the work environment of our team, in our factories and all suppliers and places where our materials come from. We deliver all our goods completely plastic-free, develop soles made of pure latex, use sugar cane as a material for lightweight soles, hence, the least amount of chemicals are used during the production of our materials. There is an entire section on our website that explains everything we do.
What made you expand your product line to accessories and t-shirts?
Our focus and expertise lie with shoes, but our passion lies with fashion in general. Hence, during the last few seasons, we are exploring other products as well such as handbags for women, accessories like phone cases, and lately t-shirts and sweaters. We had the idea to make a great fitting shirt from organic cotton. To show that shirts made of more sustainable material look and fit much better as compared to products with cheaper and polluting materials.
I am coming from a shoe family. That means my heart is with shoes and a different variety of shoes. We do not solely focus on sneakers but try to expand our horizon.
What can we look forward to from Nubikk to come in the future?
Currently, we are working on several square-toe shaped boots and we recently dropped boots with ‘see-through' glass heels in different colors, with a great fit and removable cushioned insoles. But we also see a shift in our product range moving slowly from sneakers to boots and derby shoes. We have made them all in a cool way. They will drop this winter.
2019 was a great year for us with international expansion and opening our very first flagship store in Amsterdam. For the winter collection of 2020, we have a lot of great new designs coming up and also a big collaboration. On which I can’t say too much but it’s coming soon.
NUBIKK.com
Timotej Letonja
