Diederik Verbakel and Marieke Holthuis met at the Academy of Art, Arnhem when they were design students and 17 years later, besides completing each others sentences, they both are best friends forever. As they sailed through internships and working with Versace Sport, Moschino, Harley Davidson and Diesel, it was a desire to do something of their own led them to set up their own brand in 2010 and DIED (first four letters of Diederiks name) seemed an apt name for their label.
We learnt from all the brands we worked for the pressing importance of high quality finish, and honed our skills in both hi-end luxe wear as well as casual as we worked with Versace and Diesel, two ends of a spectrum, says Diederik, and no he didnt get a chance to meet Giannis famous sibling Donatella, even though he prayed everyday that they cross paths during his 10-year-long sojourn in Italy.
In India for the WIFW SS 2013 collaborative show with Rohit Gandhi and Rahul Khanna (Cue), Diederik says, I think Versace is fabulous at expressing luxury, while Diesel taught us the value of simplicity and minimalism.
Known for hand painting, dying and fashion prints as well as illustrations that are then translated on to the garment, they hope to use the overflowing wealth of Indian embroidery techniques to their advantage. We were spell bound by the powerful hand beading, dexterously completed to perfection, embellishment placements were interesting for us to see and Rohit and Rahul have been an absolute delight to work with, says Diederik.