This is me: Annelieke van Leeuwen

“I don’t have a specific style. I like cheerful clothes, colours, different patterns, that kind of thing. And it depends a bit on where I’m going. I buy my clothes at a shop on Prinsengracht in Amsterdam, Verse | A Good Store, I work there too. They only sell sustainable clothes and accessories. In fact, it’s really a collection point for brands which particularly focus on sustainability, for example on how much water is used in the production and whether it’s ethically sustainable. We check the manufacturers’ claims and then decide whether we buy the garments or not.”

“Recently, I’ve bought nearly all my clothes from Verse, but I’ve obviously got things from before that time. It would be a shame to throw them away. For example, I won the sunglasses I’m wearing today at a festival in Amsterdam. I still like them. And on the subject of style, I think that you could call my style sustainable. But it has to look good too. In fact, it should really be normal that clothes fulfil certain sustainability conditions.”

“With the master I’ve chosen – Global Business & Sustainability – I hope to get a better understanding of sustainable development in order to be able to implement change in organisations. For me, sustainability is a way of life and goes further than just clothes. It’s a conscious lifestyle. If you want to dress sustainably yourself, there are plenty of possibilities to buy sustainable clothes, both in store and online. It’s not difficult or complicated and it doesn’t need to be expensive either.”

“I got the gold necklace I’m wearing from my grandmother.”