Behind the scenes

Sometimes a children’s fantasy becomes reality … Britt Bertens (26) from Diessen, The Netherlands, grew up in the fashion store of her parents and dreamed about her own clothing collection early on. That passion for fashion combined Britt with her love for winter sports and last year KOU Sportswear saw the light.

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She has lived all her life between the agricultural fields of the ‘Brabant Kempen’. No mountain in the farthest distance. Yet Britt is crazy about winter sports and skiing. From the moment she could walk, she was also on skis. “First with daddy between the legs”, says Britt, “but after dozens of ski lessons, I whipped off the track as a five-year-old on my own skis. With the whole family we annually traditionally go towards Austria. Uncles, aunts, nephews and nieces, everyone goes along, super cozy! “Skiing is simply in the DNA of this family. But in addition to winter sports, Britt also has a striking feature in the family genes; the love of fashion.

Your own clothing brand, few people can say that.

Britt: “I grew up in fashion. My father and mother have a fashion store in Diessen (De Laat Mode, red). That shop my grandmother has ever started. As a child, I often went to fashion fairs with mom and grandmother to purchase new collections, and regularly I helped out a little in the store. Somewhere in that time my dream built; I thought it would be great if I could ever set up my own clothing line. It has always fascinated me and never let me go. “

But where do you start?

“After high school, I opted for the bachelor in fashion management at TMO the European Fashion Business School. During that study, my dream gradually became more concrete and I wondered what experience I would still need. I did an internship in fashion-PR in London, I went on the road as an account manager, then I completed a master’s degree in finance and worked at Tricorp, a company that makes work clothes. Here I gained insight into high-quality production. A super fun and educational job, but the desire to start something for myself became stronger and stronger. I cut the knot: now I am still young, I just go for it! “

 You choose ski clothing. No jeans, dresses or children’s clothing?

“Well, at first I thought about a clothing brand for women, or a brand of shirts, but there are already 1001 of them. How do I still distinguish myself? Then I got the idea to combine my two biggest passions: winter sports and fashion. I decided to specialize in pullys and sweaters. They are usually very boring, mainly designed to be functional. In my pullys and sweaters you can be sporty and fashionable on the slopes! Besides trendy design, I wanted a high quality and an affordable and honest price. That cost me a lot of research, but it has paid off; the garments are super comfortable, breathable and extremely durable. ”

”it has always fascinated me and never let me go”

Kou Sportswear, sounding name.

“Die naam had ik vlot op papier staan, tussen een heleboel andere wintersporttermen. Kou bleef in mijn hoofd spoken en verveelde me na een maand nog steeds niet. Ik heb nog wel gecheckt of het in een vreemde taal toevallig niet iets geks betekent, maar volgens mij is dat niet zo. Dus kan ik met Kou ook met een gerust hart de buitenlandse markt op.” “I had that name easily on paper, among a lot of other winter sports terms. Kou means cold. Kou was still haunted in my head and after a month I still did not get bored. I still checked whether it happens to be something crazy in a foreign language, but I do not think so. So with Kou I can also enter the foreign market with peace of mind. ”

Is that in your plans?

“Who knows, it is certainly a beautiful dream for the future. That even large winter sports countries such as Canada and Japan are ever introduced to Kou. But hey, this is only going to be my second year, first I have to take care that my clothes will be hanging at more stores. Besides several stores in the Netherlands, there are already four in Austria, so that is not bad. And of course I also have a webshop, there you have to take a look. Even if you do not like skiing anyway, because the pullys and sweaters are also just a great addition to your winter clothing. ” ◆

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