Back to basics

Drinking a cup of coffee with a business partner. Bringing the children to school. Finishing a new design. Visiting my production company in Italy. Or as Dutch singer Herman van Veen sings: run, jump, fly, dive, fall, get up and go on again…

I started this year with cleaning out my studio, so I would get a clear mind. Starting the new year by leaving out all the unnecessary stuff. Back to basics. Who would have thought that this would become the reality for so many people all over the world – due to the outbreak of the corona virus?

I’ve addressed the importance of minimalism for quite a while now. Looking what life is really about. Change our (over)consuming behaviour. I love simple and clean designs, but I’m just now starting to realize why this is so important.

Now that there is no time for all the noise, it’s time to see what life is really about: the health of yourself and your loved ones. Enjoying a simple walk in the sun. It’s a “quarantine of consumption”, as trendwatcher Li Edelkoort strikingly says in dezeen. And maybe we could slowly start to look at the bright sides of this virus outbreak. How nature is profiting. No more smog in China. Cleaner skies above Europe.

Of course this crisis has big economic consequences, and as an entrepreneur I will have to face them. I hope that we will have learned from this time – once it is all over.  Support your locals. Get your veggies from your greengrocer. And as far as my company goes: think carefully about what kind of bag you truly love and invest in it. So it will last a lifetime and even longer.

Stay inside

Stay tuned…

Yvette