Jessy Heuvelink is the Head Designer of JLindeberg and his journey there has been really interesting. With a background in couture as well as sportswear he has found the perfect compromise in the Lindeberg identity and is one of the most important people in JLindeberg´s future development.

Jessy started out studying fashion at the “Hogeschool voor de Kunsten” in Utrecht (NL). It was four years of studies with a focus on fashion as art. He did an internship with Victor & Rolf whilst they were working on their “last” couture collection – “Russian Doll”. A master degree at Fashion Institute Arnhem was followed by a move to Paris where he continued to study women´s fashion and focus on couture with internship in houses like Lacroix, Montana and Hubert Barrére.

This sounds like the start of a very promising career within the couture part of the industry and this was Jessy´s focus until he suddenly realized that it was something completely different that he wanted to do. He made a complete U-turn and started working for Adidas Germany instead – from couture to… sportswear!

“It was interesting because I had to start working with the body instead of against it”, Jessy explains. For someone that has been working with couture where the garment is in focus this is definitely a big change. Working with extremely tight budgets is another big change as well as working for a company that is so market oriented as the sportswear companies are.

After two years he had gained some good experience but felt it was time for something new. “I developed a lot working for Adidas but I also had my experience from couture and needed to find a compromise”, Jessy says.

Luckily Johan Lindeberg had heard of him and when he needed to strengthen his team Jessy got a call and a few weeks later he was in Stockholm. With his experience in sportswear it was natural to start with that line in JL but he soon moved into designing men´s wear instead. “When getting into men´s wear you can design for yourself and not just a role model”, Jessy explains about the difference in designing for women and men.

JLindeberg has most definitely been a very good compromise for Jessy. It is obvious how much he likes the company - the identity of it as well as the collections. When the new owners did some changes in the beginning of 2008 he was asked to become the new Head of Design. With this position he is now one of the most important people to keep the labels identity as well as develop it for the future.

With so much international experience from fashion what about Jessy’s view of Swedish fashion, from an outsider’s perspective? It is no questioning about that Jessy has taken a liking to the Swedish expression. “Swedish fashion is plain – in a good way. It is about leaving thing out instead of adding which gives a clean feel”, he says.

Swedes are sometimes criticized for looking like a bunch of clones and Jessy has a theory about this. “The Swedes are fashionable though they tend to look very much like each other. I think it is because Sweden is a rather isolated country and Sweden pretty much is their reference. In other countries you have cities that are more of melting pots with a mix of expressions”, he says.

Sweden and not the least the Swedish fashion industry is becoming more international though and this is probably the thing that will be Jessy´s biggest challenge in the future – keeping the JLindeberg identity in a more international environment – some Dutch stubbornness can sure be of use!