An untold love story
This story starts at the turn of the 19th century with a trip to Kashmir made by the De Vos family-wealthy Dutch merchant traders from Amsterdam.
Their hosts were the leading trading house in Northern India and the head of the household, Calvin de Vos, brought his wife, Katrijn, and two daughters with him on the trip.
As Calvin would be pre-occupied with government and financial affairs it was agreed that Qadir, the eldest son of the trading house owner, would be responsible for the entertainment and chaperoning of the ladies of the household.
Visits were planned by horseback into the mountains and it was on one of these expeditions into the snow carpeted peaks that Katrijn de Vos fell in love with Qadir.
Qadir was a handsome, elegantly dressed man who attended to his guests with great charm and thoughtfulness. Katrijn had piercing blue eyes and wore a full-length white fur coat with hood and, on explaining to Qadir that the name de Vos meant ‘fox ’in English, he took the local word for winter-Wande-and christened her ‘Wande Vos’ The Winter Fox. He too was falling head over heels in love and he and Katrijn began a relationship which was kept a secret from their families.
When the de Vos family returned to Holland Qadir and Katrijn could only maintain contact by letter and, on their deaths, it was found that they had both faithfully kept all their correspondence.
The letters are a treasure trove of emotions and it is clear that, despite both Katrijn and Qadir continuing to lead, on the surface, conventional happy family lives, they maintained an inseparable bond of love and support throughout their lives.
The letters are still in family possession and it is out of respect, tribute and admiration for their forebearers that the latest generation of the family have revealed this untold love story and called their new collection Wande Vos The Winter Fox.
“Can you grant me the opportunity in gentle words to express the love I hold for you? May I aspire to hearing this devotion returned?”
Qadir to Katrijn
“To be honest and resolute in such matters is unbearably painful to me. Our circumstances can only bring reproach from those others we hold most dear.”
Katrijn to Qadir
Inspired by the untold love story of Wande Vos the new generation faced a daunting challenge.
How were they to convert all the technical knowledge and manufacturing expertise accumulated over more than 100 years with the demands of the contemporary design world?
They had seen the family produce luxurious products for many of the world’s leading brands. They had seen the development of fabrics, the finessing of manufacturing techniques and the growth of design expertise within the company.
They increasingly understood the needs of their business partners for reliability in quality, logistics and communication.
They gained degrees at the best fashion colleges and rich experience in the fashion capitals of Antwerp, London, Paris and New York which gave them a growing confidence and expertize in offering superb collections and designs.
They increasingly took on board the need for a new norm of the highest of standards in ethical manufacturing and sustainability.
But of most importance was a growing understanding of the needs of the final customer-the woman wearing the products-why should she buy what was being offered? What made a best seller? How can you inspire successful new design?
Then came the realization that the future lay in producing our own brand inspired by the untold love story of Wande Vos.
Why not utilize all the myriad skills at our disposal to offer direct to the luxury fashion customer a collection which understood the demands of the contemporary design world with products that could take advantage of a unique manufacturing source to offer uncompromised quality and value?
The vision was borne and we are proud to offer a collection which respects its romantic heritage and cherishes the joy of the future.
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