In the run-up to the upcoming winter edition of Modefabriek, we’re checking in with several trusted agencies. Where do they stand now? How are their brands doing? And what do they have in store for us in January? For this edition of Modefabriek Meets, we catch up with Dieter Deceuninck of Fashion Brewery and his Dutch agency Mote’l Amsterdam.
“We’ve just celebrated Mote’l’s 10-year anniversary,” says Dieter Deceuninck, who also runs three agencies in Belgium. “We were given the opportunity to handle the Dutch market for Second Female, one of our partners. That’s when I teamed up with Ruby Verhagen and we founded Mote’l Amsterdam, an agency for contemporary women’s fashion brands in the mid to mid-high segment.”
Shrinking to grow
Mote’l has been operating its showroom on Cruquius Island in Amsterdam for a year now. “A fantastic waterside location with tons of daylight, clients love coming here,” says Dieter, “but our previous location was more than 100 square meters larger.” Space wasn’t the only reason to reassess their brand portfolio. “We took a very critical look at our brand mix and decided to focus on the labels that are truly performing exceptionally well. We’re seeing that today, having a clear focus in what you do, and doing that with a highly competent team, is extremely important.” The strategy is clearly paying off. “We’ve just wrapped up sales for the SS26 season and grew by 19.8%! That’s far above market average, and of course that’s thanks to the combination of relevant brands with growth potential and talented people who love building that success with us. This is our best Spring–Summer season ever, so I’m very proud of that.”
A regular at Modefabriek
Modefabriek has always been an important partner. “This season, six of our nine brands will be grouped together in one corner. Mote’l’s founding brand Second Female will of course be there; after a brief period of stagnation, it’s seeing a serious upswing again for SS26. The second brand to join Mote’l was Dutch label Another-Label, and their SS26 collection has been very well received too. Then there’s the Dutch brand Club L’avenir, for which Mote’l has acted as agent from the very beginning. That may well be our biggest grower at the moment. The growth has been gradual, allowing the brand time to evolve. But now it’s going incredibly fast, the collection is strong, the distribution is solid, and we have loyal clients.” Another standout success is Edited, a German label that has shown remarkable growth in the Netherlands over the past four seasons. “The combination of a strong fashion feel and an entry-level price point works extremely well.” And then there’s the Belgian label Les Soeurs Hendrickx. “They handled the Dutch market themselves for a long time and also exhibited at Modefabriek, but that became unmanageable as they grew. That’s when they asked us to step in. It’s the only brand that works in-season, so they’ll now be showing their SS26 collection. Naturally, we hope to exceed their target slightly, we might even hit a nice round 20% total growth!” The sixth brand joining Modefabriek is Spanish footwear label Alohas, which recently opened its own store in Amsterdam’s Nine Streets, following flagships in Miami, Las Vegas, New York, London, and Paris. “We’ll distribute the Alohas collection across our five stands to pair footwear with clothing and align the trends. I hear from shoe retailers that they actually visit Modefabriek specifically to see the clothing trends and learn how footwear fits into that.”
And one more thing
“Today we’re literally signing with a new brand joining our showroom and making its wholesale debut in Europe: Boii Studios from Copenhagen. They currently have eight stores in Denmark and are now stepping into wholesale with all that experience behind them. This could be a big one, we’ve just finalized the deal with de Bijenkorf, where the brand will launch next spring, both in stores and online. Retailers will be able to discover it with us from January onward.”
In addition to the Mote’l team, Dieter will also bring colleagues from his three Belgian agencies to Modefabriek. “Modefabriek is the most important platform for Belgian retailers to discover new brands. We’ll be there to support our Belgian clients for brands like Simple, Freebird, Modström, and we’re also starting the Belgian representation for Knit-ted.”
Plenty of positive energy and ambition, we’re already looking forward to it!
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