The story of Sandwich from an agency business to an international brand.
Back in the 1970s, Willem Veldhoven was running an agency that his father had established in 1950. The company was initially best known for its velour and towelling sweaters. Later, when it started importing products, it gained a reputation for Shetland sweaters too. Clothing that as it were reflected the sober character of the years of reconstruction: basic, subdued and anonymous. The sweaters were bought by Dutch chain stores such as Vroom & Dreesman (V&D) and Peek & Cloppenburg (P&C) and by members of purchasing groups. But after twenty-five years, Willem Veldhoven began to realise that if he was to ensure his company's survival, he would have to drastically change its course. Increasing pressure on prices – and consequently profit margins – of the type of clothing he was selling had begun to threaten the company's existence. Veldhoven felt that this threat could be averted in only one way: via a shift in emphasis in the company's business. The product would have to be the main focus instead of the price. And that product would have to become more distinct, acquire a character all its own. This was the conviction held by Willem Veldhoven who had meanwhile become the chairman of the group's Managing Board when, in 1979, he met Henriëtte Daniels. In the seven years since she had graduated at the Visual Arts Academy in Arnhem, Henriëtte Daniels had been working as a purchaser for Vroom & Dreesman, buying clothing for the chain store's recently established fashion department. There she had learned her first lessons in how to combine creativity with a commercial target-oriented approach.
Veldhoven gave Henriëtte Daniels free rein to develop articles for the boutique-like shops and chains that had meanwhile made their appearance in the Netherlands. The small collections of T-shirts, polo shirts, cotton and lambswool sweaters – all of course different from the run of the mill – proved a major success. Within a short space of time a clientele of around a hundred shops was created. Those shops generated an impressive turnover, enabling the company to decide to end its “old” activities and concentrate entirely on “the new”. This metamorphosis took place in only two years time. The company of course, soon felt the need to associate its commercial success with a brand name, and in 1983 that led to the birth of the “SANDWICH” label. For Veldhoven and Daniels – the driving spirit behind Sandwich who had meanwhile been promoted to Creative Director – this marked the beginning of the story of a fashion line which, after 25 years, is still as successful as ever.