15 MINUTES WITH
Nicoline Huizenga
Meet Nicoline Huizenga, owner of fashion label The Five
15 MINUTES WITH Nicoline Huizenga
Meet Nicoline, owner of fashion label The Five in Amsterdam. After studying Law – ‘to please my parents’ – she decided to pursue her true love for fashion. In 2016 she started working on her own label and in 2017 her first collection was launched. A year later her second collection launched, and she has been on a roll since.
Inspiration
As a child, Nicoline was already designing outfits for her grandmother - working in fashion was her dream. So, tell us, what was your biggest source of inspiration to start your own label? ‘I don’t have a specific person or thing that inspires me, it’s always a combination of many things I see. It can be art, interior design, someone walking on the street, anything. I do look up to Simon Porte Jacquemus and what he has done in such a short period of time. His designs are amazing and the whole style is just so unique. But for example, I can also get inspired by how Demna Gvasalia (Balenciaga/Vetements) can make anything cool in the right context. That is kind of what I always look for in my models and photoshoots.’
Career
What is the best part of your job? ‘I definitely love designing the most! Picking out fabrics and thinking of how we are going to use them just makes me happy.’ What is your biggest achievement so far? ‘Recently, I finally saw a random person on the street wearing one of my suits! That has been a dream for a while haha.’
What is the next step for The Five? What is your ultimate goal? ‘My ultimate goal is to make The Five an internationally successful (not too big) company. I want to keep on growing and become more professional. Expand my team and work together to make the best/most creative/cool/unique shit. I would love to move to a bigger office and also make it into a beautiful showroom, so people can come take a look.’
Style
Since you were created outfits for your grandmother, is she the one who made you fall in love with fashion? ‘Definitely, she is 85 now and she still walks around in high leopard print heels and red lipstick. I was always hanging around her closet making outfits and putting on make-up. She used to give me Vogue September issues and she still always tells me what the colour trends are for coming season haha.’
How would you describe your own look? ‘My signature look is comfortable. That comes in many forms. My favourite pieces of clothing are my big sweaters. Comfortable, oversized and unicolor.’
Time
‘Because I run my own company I can never predict my days and I can make my own schedules. I don’t have to be at work at a certain time or place, so in that way I do feel that I have a lot of freedom. Besides, I love what I do so I can work on my label any time I feel like.’ What about the weekends, what is your favourite thing to do on a day off? ‘Never the same. Sometimes I just want to chill around the house, but usually I just go meet friends and have lunch or drinks somewhere, especially when the sun is shining. I also really love to go for a dim sum brunch at Oriental City, it’s soo good haha.’
Quick Fire Questions
Gold or Silver?
‘Gold’
Sneakers or heels?
‘Heels’
Online shoppen or in store?
‘Online online online’
Always late or on time?
‘On Time’
Favorite Rosefield watch?
‘The Tribeca’
