He once did an internship at H&M, even then he knew he wanted his own clothing store. Saturday is the day. Pieter Ernesto Westra opens AnotherWorld, with clothing conceived and made in Groningen.
He ran leaflets and newspapers in the Lewenborg district from an early age. He wanted to go to school in the nicest clothes and the hippest shoes, that’s why. “I have always been fascinated by clothing and the latest trends. I wanted to distinguish myself”, says Pieter Ernesto Westra (33) from Groningen.
He got his first name from his Groningen father; Ernesto from his Uruguayan mother. From her, he also has a love for fashion. He later found inspiration through his musical heroes such as rapper Mac Miller.
Everything made in Groningen
He likes to tell it in his small shop on the Zuiderdiep in Groningen, which opens this weekend. The business is called AnotherWorld, just like the clothing brand that Westra developed together with his friends Lodewijk and Cornelis Pisuisse (identical twins). They have been working on it for five years now, from design to production. And now it was time for my own shop.
“Here we can show our clothes. Here our brand is tangible for everyone”, says Westra, who is also involved in AnotherWorld from head to toe. He learned the basics of the trade through a fashion education at the Noorderpoort, then studied Smalle Business & Retail Management in Leeuwarden and meanwhile worked in various fashion stores in Groningen. ,,I went along on a purchase, I saw everything up close.”
Children in factories
In Cairo, for example, he saw young children working in the clothing factories. Hours and hours a day. Westra thought that was terrible and he knew then: I’ll do that differently later. Local and close by, as a counterpart to fast fashion.
,,Everyone told us that it was impossible to set up a clothing brand in the Netherlands. It is precisely then that it is nice to try it anyway,” says Westra. They chose fabrics, designed their own fits and patterns. Tailors put the designs together in two studios in Groningen. ,,High end streetwear”, is how Westra describes AnotherWorld’s clothing. ,,Clothing for the hip, fashionable young man aged 16 to 40 who goes to festivals and networking drinks. ”
Kraantje Pappie, Tony Junior and Kenny B
What also works is that celebrities walk in AnotherWorld, says Westra. Which Famous Dutchmen? ,, The Groningen rapper Kraantje Pappie started it. Meanwhile singer Kenny B also wears it, the band Chef’Special, DJ Tony Junior. That also ensures that we are known to a wider audience.
Westra and the Pisuisse brothers set up AnotherWorld alongside their full-time jobs. They expect that combination to last for a while. “The ship is going to sail,” says Westra about the opening of the store. “Now we’re going to grow.”
2023-07-01 08:03:00
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