With our latest Baukjen offering available now, we thought we’d sit down with the brand to find out more about founder and namesake Baukjen De Swaan Arons, the ethos behind the operation and their eco-friendly approach to fashion…

An Interview With Baukjen UK

Could you tell us the Baukjen story and in particular what inspired founder, Baukjen de Swaan Arons to start the brand?

Baukjen de Swaan Arons is the woman behind the eponymous label, Baukjen. Originally born in Amsterdam, she’s a Londoner at heart – having first moved to the city aged five. After the birth of her first child she launched the luxury maternity brand Isabella Oliver and a few years later the womenswear collection, Baukjen, followed.

The brand started as a solution for women needing an everyday wardrobe that’s contemporary, effortless and chic. Baukjen found it difficult to find a brand that was her ‘go-to’. Meaning, a premium brand without the premium prices that you can rely on for an edited capsule collection of wardrobe essentials.

Hence, the Baukjen brand was born!

You design for the “women around you”. How much of an impact do you feel a fantastic, well fitting wardrobe can have on a woman’s confidence?

Confidence is key when it comes to styling and wearing clothes. We want women to feel confident in our clothes, but most importantly we want them to look and feel like themselves – it’s about the personality of the woman wearing it. This is vital to our brand. We offer a curated collection that works for every mood and everyday wear. A well-fitting, flattering wardrobe always makes you feel more confident.

How has Baukjen’s Dutch/British heritage shaped the brand? And how do you feel Baukjen sets itself apart from other retailers?

Baukjen was born in Amsterdam but moved to London at the age of 5 – her Dutch heritage is intrinsic to every new season collection. It’s pared back and effortless, with a slightly utilitarian yet undeniably chic feel. We set ourselves apart by our use of luxury fabrics, timeless cuts, and effortless styles. Moreover, everything is first sampled and tried in-house to achieve the best fit possible.

Baukjen caters to hardworking women with busy schedules. Could you please share with us a little more on your 18-hour diaries ethos?

An ’18-hour’ diary is a phrase we use time and time again with our clothes. It’s because we literally craft our clothes with 18-hour diaries in mind. Meaning, desk to dinner, day to night, dawn to dusk – our clothes hold 18-hour appeal.

We all live busy lifestyles and often there isn’t the chance to change or go home (especially from work). Hence, why we try and make desk to dinner dressing as easy as possible: no overthinking is required. Every piece can be dressed up or down and can be appropriate for day or night-time wear.

How important are trends to Baukjen? Do they have a big influence on your collections?

Trends are important to us, but our collection is not defined by them. We edit trends to ensure that they can be worn every day. For example, a few of our tops have a ruffled sleeve. Ruffles are prolific and can be seen everywhere, but our variation is slightly more relaxed and timeless. A classic wardrobe is what we’re after. Therefore, we’re trend conscious, but not trend driven.

It’s great to see that Baukjen are an environmentally conscious brand. What ethical steps do you currently take and do you have any plans to expand your ecological footprint in the future?

We are incredibly committed to making our brand as ethically sustainable as possible. Firstly, we don’t over produce our clothes. If a style is doing well, we’ll sometimes order more – but we never overestimate our stock levels. Sourcing and using high quality materials that will last and can be worn for many seasons to come is vital to us.

Keeping things local is important to us. All of our designs and the majority of our samples are made in-house in our London studio, and then 80% of our collection is manufactured in Portugal. Miles per garment matter to us.

We also use recyclable packaging;  90% of it is recyclable and we’re working on the rest. We are constantly learning and adapting our methods to maintain a high level of commitment in keeping our collection ethically sustainable.

Finally, what’s next in the pipeline for Baukjen?

The future of fashion is sustainable fashion. We’re really committed to this: we want our brand to be as environmentally friendly as possible. We want to learn more about reducing our carbon footprint and focus on making our packaging 100% recyclable, rather than the 90% it is now.

We’re constantly learning and thriving towards this. We’re attending meetings and having conversations with other retailers. Our future is centred on still providing customers with an effortless wardrobe of timeless essentials, but we also want to ensure that our clothes are manufactured in the most environmentally friendly way possible.

Shop the latest Baukjen sale now!