In conversation with Femke and Maxime from HKliving
In conversation with Maxime and Femke from HKliving
Maxime and Femke are two of the 45 talents behind the incredibly successful HKliving. Maxime takes care of HKliving's branding. From social content to brainstorming strategies, and from rolling out campaigns to achieving visibility at events and trade fairs. As a creative designer and stylist, Femke is responsible for both the designs and the photoshoots for the brand, which is steeped in 70s vibes. Two creative minds doing their magic within one of the Netherlands' most popular interior brands. We wanted to talk to them! About authentic interiors, their vintage feel, colour, inspiration, and sustainability.
First things first: how did you end up at HKliving?
HKliving can currently be found in more than 70 countries. Logically, because with its deep colours, cosy designs, and 70s flair, HKliving really hits the mark for many interior lovers. How did Femke and Maxime end up at the successful interior brand? To start with, Femke comes from a creative nest. Femke: 'My father actually builds everything in the house himself. My mother makes beautiful flower arrangements and decorates the house with love. We used to have a basement full of vases. I think that's where my love for interiors started.' An interior design course at Academy Artemis followed, and immediately after that, she was able to start working at HKliving. Maxime had a very different starting point: 'When I was 14, I wanted to join the Royal Military Police, haha!' Life had something else in store for her. 'I did the first year of AmFi (Amsterdam Fashion Institute) and then I followed a communication course. When I started working, I took a job at a curtain supplier. Initially with an eye on PR and Marketing. But I soon noticed, through the daily link with interiors, that coming home to beautiful things is real wealth to me!'
Fashion: the source of inspiration for your interior
We find Maxime's start in the fashion industry interesting! And we agree: fashion and interior design have a lot in common.Femke says about this: 'I see interior design as follows: you are basically dressing your house in a way that feels good to you. Just like clothing, interior design is an extension of yourself to me. And I also think my clothing style overlaps with my interior style: I love the mix of vintage and new in my closet. That's also what we do at HKliving.'
Where else do you get your interior inspiration?
Femke: 'We do a lot of research here. We investigate which hotels, designers, and fashion designers are cool. Travel and art inspire us incredibly.' At HKliving, they don't really do trends: Femke: 'We mainly look at concepts we see around us: what appeals to us at the moment? And a lot of what we do is just gut feeling. As soon as we feel enthusiastic about something, HKliving products and related categories are soon the result.'
When we ask Maxime to what extent marketing still has a say in this gut feeling, she answers: 'Within our team, we rely heavily on each other's expertise. Of course, one product sells much faster than another, but our purchasing department knows how to take that into account very well. Personally, I find it interesting that to put the big picture together, you also need outspoken products that might be more commercial. It is precisely those eye-catchers that underline the concept and the accompanying mood. They ensure that people better understand the entire collection. A good example of this is our bright pink cabinet. It is somewhat comparable to fashion: if one item is very intense, it is strong if the rest is a bit quieter. That's how it works with interiors too. Eye-catchers are reinforced by a basic environment.'
Maxime:
“It is somewhat comparable to fashion: if one item is very intense, it is strong if the rest is a bit quieter. That's how it works with interiors. Eye-catchers are reinforced by a basic environment.”
And the influence of vintage and retro: where does that come from?
Femke: 'I think everyone has a craving for the past at the moment. Vintage and retro remain a thing. There is a run on second-hand shops. I think that stems from an interest in sustainability, a need for unique style, and the romance of the past.' Maxime: 'Yes, and long-term thinking is also becoming more of a thing in the interior industry, I notice. People prefer to save for items they truly love and expect to keep or use for a very long time. I think sustainability is becoming more and more a lifestyle instead of a trend.'
Femke:
“There is a run on second-hand shops. I think that stems from an interest in sustainability,
a need for unique style, and the romance of the past.”
Back to the style of HKliving. Is there a certain theme that we can see in the current collection?
Femke: 'Retro is very much woven into our DNA. In addition, you will find a lot of relaxed style and comfort in the current collection: moody sofas or tableware in deep colours.
Yes, colour! We have to talk about that for a moment, of course. Because to what extent does colour play an important role within HKliving?
Femke: 'Colour is very important to us. We work with a number of bold colours in every collection. Which colours we choose depends very much on the idea behind the collection: what mood do we want to create? We have a large wall with inspiration in the office. It's covered with images and colour samplees, and based on that, we look for balance. We always have the fairf colour sample box at hand when designing the collection. We also choose the colours very consciously in our showroom. For example, we have used the colours 'Hay' and 'Mahogany' from fairf a lot. We then place brighter colours or more intense materials from our own designs around them. The result is a balanced and interesting interior.'“We always have the fairf colour sample box at hand when designing the collection.”
