A Conversation With Menno: Tenue de Nîmes
We recently had the pleasure of connecting with Menno van Meurs of Amsterdam’s premier denim boutique, Tenue de Nîmes. Menno provides food-for-thought on denim, their own publication Journal de Nîmes, social media and how valued their connection with a customer truly is. This down-to-earth Dutchman exudes an uncommon humility throughout, which no doubt has helped his brand flourish in Europe and the wider world.
"The feeling you get when someone from the other side of the world gets in touch because he or she likes what you do is indescribable."
CREDITS
Interview by Darian Hocking & Johnny Ridley
LINKS
Tenue de Nîmes
First of all what is your involvement with Tenue de Nîmes? Prior to that venture what were you up to?
I am the co-owner of Tenue de Nîmes in Amsterdam. Rene Strolenberg and I started the store in 2008 because we felt our capital was in desperate need of a ‘Denim Heaven’. Before that, I used to work as a concept developer and marketing consultant after I graduated at the University of Amsterdam. I developed my denim addiction during my study – it was at the age 15 that I started working at The Hague based denim store Mode D’emploi. A degree in Economics and Communication could not prevent me from chasing my blue dream.
What’s an average day like at Tenue de Nîmes and how involved you are on a face-to-face level with customers?
Being in the store with your customers is the most valuable thing one can wish for. It is where you get the feedback on your products, where you service your clients and where you find out about the wants and desires of your followers. Rene and I started just with the two of us, working 7 days in a week, for nearly 2 years in a row. We did not have money for staff; every Euro earned was used to make our store stand on its own feet.
The beauty of that is the constant dialogue with customers, but the downside is it is simply not doable and prevents you from growing your business. Although we hired some personnel and we are not in the store every day anymore, we are still working at least three days a week each at Tenue de Nîmes, every week. On top of that, we will always work during the weekends because that is the time most of our clients come by the store.
Speaking of connecting with customers, how important do you feel it is to be accessible through the likes of Twitter and your own blog?
I believe that my marketing background has endorsed the consciousness that the Internet is a very powerful and important vehicle to transport your messages to your clients and prospects. However, the Internet itself will never be the center point of our business model. I like to compare it with electricity: You can never do without, although it has very little to do with the core-business.
So you feel as though social media has helped your store progress and tell its story to a wider audience?
Yes of course it did. But you cannot simply say ‘The Medium Is The Message’ – if the message one sends sucks, the medium is not worth a dime. We see a lot of people using Internet and SM in particular in an unstructured and fragmented way. We strive for consistency in all we do and say. But we are the last to deny that SM creates a global audience for our business and it helped to get fans from all over the world. The feeling you get when someone from the other side of the world gets in touch because he or she likes what you do is indescribable.
What was the overriding motivation to start the printed Journal de Nîmes series and how successful do you feel the series has been so far?
The reason we started our magazine Journal de Nîmes - We searched for a qualitative way to introduce ourselves to press and the international audience when we started the store. We felt a simple press release would be boring and it would not serve our needs. We decided to send out a very short message to the press in which we simply said who we were and what we were aiming for. In that same message we said: “If you like this idea have a look here,” so we copied a link to our online magazine in which we introduced our Tenue de Nîmes philosophy; we shared interviews with our personal denim gods and we provided a glimpse of our store.
After we found out that nearly 60,000 people had read the little magazine online we decided to make a second publication and take it to print too. All of them have had a little fewer than 350,000 online readers. Pretty crazy if you ask me. For us it is just an addition to what we like to do best in our store: Story telling.
What can we expect from the next issue of Journal de Nîmes?
The next issue will be all about Made in Europe. It will be an issue that shows European brands, craftsmanship and cities. As it looks right now, we will feature a brand and factory report on the French Breton legend Amror Lux, we will step into the world of Italian denim production and we will hopefully be able to show a glimpse of Renzo Rosso, the founder of Europe’s most successful denim company, Diesel.
Tenue de Nîmes can boast successful collaborations with names such as Raleigh Denim, Tellason and Grenson. What key factors do you think exist to allow you to have connected with such big names within the industry?
We have a very simple theory when it comes to collaborations between companies: 1 + 1 needs to become 3. If both sides do not add an equal amount of effort and extra to the collab it's not a successful one in my opinion.
To answer your question precisely, I believe we have always managed to team up with brands who share that same mentality. On top of that we consider those brands a metaphor for our love for the Real McCoy, for pure quality. If you think like that, you will understand why these collaborations are super special each and every time.
When collaborating with others on projects such as the recently released Tellason / Tenue de Nîmes Nº2 jean, how much input do you have and how does the collaboration process usually start?
A collaboration like the last one we did with Tellason literally starts with a blank piece of paper and a pencil. We start brainstorming and decide things like fit, denim fabric, accessories, pocket lining and we come up with a theme.
The Tellason jeans were an ode to the Dutch army. We used WWII tents to line the pockets. The fabric smelled so terribly that Pete and Tony really doubted they should ask the factory to use it. But after washing, drying, washing again and a lot of venting, it was ready. These hilarious things happen during these kind of projects and it actually makes them so much fun to do.
Is there anyone you would love to work with in the future?
There are numerous companies that we would like to work with or for. We are very proud the Manabe family is preparing a beautiful collaboration for us with their world famous Momotaro label. We will soon release a beautiful Chuck Taylor with Converse this summer.
Of course we would love to do a special project with Levi’s one day, just because we believe they are the ultimate partners to team up with.
Also the upcoming collaboration with CS Bell (a one man backpack factory) inspires us very much. It is not about how big a company is you know, it is all about what they stand for and could add to. What we can learn from that particular craft-master, whether that master is large or small, inspiration is in small things.
When buying denim for yourself, what are the most important things you look out for?
When I buy jeans I will only look whether the brand is true to the heritage of denim. I only buy classic jeans without too much bullshit that I can wear for a year or two. When it is completely worn out I step out of it, and put on a fresh pair. I am not the kind of guy that wears a different pair every day of the week. I buy an expensive pair every once in a while and I will wear it most of the days without even getting my wallet out. I combine that favorite pair with some old Levi’s I’ll buy from time to time. There is nothing like a vintage 501 XX you know, the only pity is you can’t wear them out yourself anymore.
Which denim labels have most impressed you recently, and can you highlight any new labels that we should look out for in 2011?
Well we are really proud to stock Double RL (the vintage line by Ralph Lauren) since last season. Not really a specific denim brand, but truly the most amazing collection when it comes to a never changing view on what denim should be like.
Next to that, small brands like Tellason or Japanese brands like Momotaro and Big John are amazing to work with because of their knowledge and endless recourses. They are such an inspiration to us. Last, we really love to work with Naked & Famous, they managed to make premium Japanese denim available to a much broader audience thanks to their price point. I believe they changed the market.
Anything to add in closing?
Live in creation – not in reaction.
