Welcome to one of our new features! Fashion- and other creatives give us a look in their homes, offices, inspirational- or workspaces. Read about what inspires them, funny anecdotes on their interior accessories or collected objects, and find out more about the person behind a creative vision.
We start out with Dieter de Cock. The originally Belgian Head Designer of menswear label Cold Method,lives on the ground floor of a cute appartment in the center of Amsterdam. He has an extended view from Central Station to Nemo’s Scientific Museum, thanks to his big windows. Even tourists that walk by take a peek at his minimalistic, yet cosy interior.
Of mice and men
Dieter has been living in this house for 5 years already, time flies! He shares it with a roommate. Well, actually they just share the kitchen and bathroom: “My roommate is a student, he’s rarely here. We just wave and say ‘hi’ when we see each other,” Dieter says. Except from his roommate, a mouse kept him company for about a year and dissapeared again (lots of houses in Amsterdam are haunted by mice, TD): “I had to leave my dog – a beagle- with my parents in Belgium, because having a dog in Amsterdam isn’t ideal.” So far for the pets. He now has two new dolls from COARSE (manga-like Japanese dolls produced in HongKong and designed by a German guy, TD) he calls his adoptive kids: “They just came in today! Look, even the packaging looks good!”.
From blank canvas to colour palette
He was a lucky bird to come across this appartment, some of his ex-colleagues live here as well. Dieter: “The light in the house and the view are tremendous. It’s such a privilege to live in a typical, old Amsterdam house as a Belgian.” The decoration is simple, with the use of ton-sur-ton colours: “A Single Man by Tom Ford inspired me to style my interior. I love the brown and grey hues and the minimalistic 50’s design.”
It’s important for Dieter to preserve his home for his personal life. He doesn’t bring work-related material home besides his laptop. His favourite place to sit is on the couch in the living room, where he can look outside to find his rest and get inspired. Ofcourse ideas may pop up, but magazines, moodboards and fabric swatches are prohibited in the homely area. Most of his inspiration for the Cold Method-collections come from old movies like Doctor Zhivago or Lord of the Flies. But also paintings and streetstyle blogs: ” Did you know that Lookbook.nu has a great system to search on colour? It really helps putting together my colour palettes.”
We’re not sure about his admiration for paintings yet… There are two blank canvasses on the white wall. When we ask him about it, Dieter replies: “It fits my ton-sur-ton idea. Used the same trick in my latest collection as well; navy and black. I plan on having the canvasses replaced by a real painting, though. A friend of mine is producing a work I’d really love to have here.”
Food for thoughts
The house is not really big, and not too small, but it’s situated in the center near main attractions the city has to offer. Amsterdam’s China town is just around the corner and Dieter already found his favourite Thai take-out: “It’s held by two small Thai ladies, and everything is fresh and well made. When I used to work for Viktor&Rolf, and made late nights working on collections, we often had Thai delivery that didn’t always work well for me…Now I found a good one, I stick to it!”
As a native Belgian, Dieter is used to a Burgundian lifestyle. His mom is a good cook -makes her own ragout filling for puff pastry pies- but also other typical dishes, like a beef and veal ‘beer’ stew which is served with fries. At home, Dieter likes to host his friends and serves them salads and other culinary experiments like chicken-lentil curry, beef stroganoff from the wok, or: “Burgers made of so many layers it’s hard to bite in them.”
Amsterdam: the village that never sleeps
He’s happy with his living space at the moment, but admits to dream of a bigger house with a study some day, maybe even in Amsterdam: “I enjoy living in Amsterdam. This city is like a village. There’s not as many pressure as London or Paris. It has a cosyness that allows you to do your thing in a slower pace like I do on Saturdays: have a coffee, walk around, check out the books at the American bookstore, watch people from a bench at the Spui…Still there are always activities. You could do something every day if you’d like.This village never sleeps either.”
FAVOURITE PLACES
•George Deli, Utrechtsestraat 17: “I love the carrot cake!”
•Athenaeum books, Spui 14-16/Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal 357.
•The American Book Center, Spui 12
•The florist at the corner of Kalverstraat and Spui (across the Esprit-store): “The owners know me by now. I spend half an hour checking all the great colours for a bouquet, and end up with a white one anyway. Nevertheless, the flowers stay fresh all week and they have big flower compositions for a mere € 15. Value for your money.”
STRANGEST OBJECT A lightstick that reminds us of Star Wars. Dieter reveals the mystery: “After a party at the Melkweg venue on Queensday I found three of these on the street laying in a pile of garbage. I thought they we’re fun and took them home. One broke, the other was taken by my ex, and now I have this one left.”
© The Digitalistas
Interview: Karine Bloem
Photography: Elisah Jacobs