Shoumik loves Vans

Medical student Shoumik doesn’t think he has a ‘typical Dutch style’. But his fashion sense has changed since he moved from Singapore to the Netherlands.

Shoumik (24) has just finished an anamnesis with a simulated patient with a ‘complex case’. As part of his pre-master’s in Medicine, he practised conducting a complicated medical intake with an actor pretending to be ill. He is now unwinding on a deep leather sofa in the Education Centre of Erasmus MC. He’s dressed in a plain dark blue jumper and khaki trousers.

“I don’t really have a typical Dutch style”, says Shoumik. In his view, that would be light blue jeans and letterman jackets. What sets him apart are his shoes and socks. He has a large Vans collection and buys a new pair every six months. Today, he’s wearing a slip-on pair with the classic checkerboard pattern. His socks resemble hot dogs, with mustard dripping down his ankles.

Still, his style has changed since moving to the Netherlands from Singapore. “I was really looking forward to winter and the cold. I could finally wear a coat!”

Within his circle of friends, Shoumik is the only one who pays attention to fashion. “My friends think my style is flamboyant”, he says. He tries to coax them out of their hoodies, with mixed success. They met at Erasmus University College (EUC), where he did his bachelor’s. That was the first place where he could experiment with clothing, after years of wearing school uniforms.

The transition from EUC to the academic hospital wasn’t always easy. “There’s a kind of barrier here. At EUC, people are more open, they feel more like my community”, says Shoumik. He points to a button on his chest featuring a drawing of people with different skin tones. He made it with the POC collective to celebrate the beauty of diversity. Jokingly, he adds: “EMC would never have a people-of-colour club.”