ALL ANTWERP. “I no longer buy clothes, but make everything myself” (Antwerp)
Every weekday our reporter and photographer pick a casual passer-by off the street for a nice conversation. Want everyone has a story. And certainly in Antwerp. Today: Mathilde Boussauw (34).
“I make custom clothes. Not just any piece, but I ask my customers to show their favorite piece from the closet. Based on that, I make a new piece of clothing that they can use for years to come. With those pieces it is valuable to pay the price of a homemade garment. I then tailor it completely.”
“I make clothes for their daily life, but it can also be a special piece such as a wedding dress from something for a special occasion. Since a year I also take as many pictures as possible of the designs I make for people. Then I put up screens in front of my shop in the square and I ask people to pose in their new piece of clothing in front of the door outside. I get a lot of response to those photos online and that’s how I get new customers. The photos also hang in the display case of the sewing shop.”
“I don’t buy clothes anymore, but make everything myself. I don’t always wear my best pieces. It is mainly clothes that I make during workshops to test and that have failed a bit. Throwing it away would be a shame. My sweater is from three years ago. I may already have seven of those salopettes. That is difficult to buy in the right size in the store. A jumpsuit is also a good piece to have made to measure, because we are not all women of 1 meter 70 tall as the ready-to-wear brands think.”