Photography by JEROEN NOORDZIJ
With his impressive career as a Dutch Olympic rower, Niki knows better than anyone what dedication means. But now that the rowing suit has been swapped for a tailored suit, he is discovering a new form of expression. No rigid schedule, but creative freedom. No standard navy, but style with a twist. Or, as he puts it: “Clothing should be an extension of yourself.”
A surprising start, an Olympic finish
"I started without any ambition; I never thought I wanted to become a top-level athlete. Until I took part in a youth competition in Weesp. There was a rowing ergometer; whoever rowed the fastest 500 meters won a speculaas cookie. I was first up, clocked 1:26.6, and didn’t think much of it. But all day my time stayed on top. Someone said: ‘This is so fast, no one comes close.’ That was the moment I thought: maybe this could become something. Step by step, my bar shifted. After a year, I was invited to the Dutch national team for the first time. First I dreamed of a junior European Championship, then a World Championship, eventually the Olympic Games.”
“I have experienced what it feels like to give everything of yourself and to become completely absorbed in something. But I also struggled with the balance between being a top athlete and Niki as a person. The familiar rhythm of eating, sleeping, training did not work for me; it made me unhappy. Elite sport pushes you to the edge, physically and mentally, and it has taught me to keep consciously asking: what am I feeling, why do I feel this way?”
Greater world, new focus
“One of the reasons I quit was that at some point it became very much the same thing over and over. In the four-year Olympic cycle, I knew exactly where I would be at every moment of the year, with the same people. I missed personal growth. Now that I work almost full-time, there is room for new things. Especially in sports, because that remains a big part of who I am."
“Clothing used to be exciting for me for a long time, something others judge you on. I’ve come to appreciate it more and more as an expression of personality. During my studies in California, I learned from the British to go ‘over the top.’ I bought a three-piece thrift store suit for six dollars and wore it everywhere. That playfulness has stuck."
"Clothing was a source of anxiety for me for a long time, something others judge you by. I've increasingly come to appreciate it as an expression of personality."
The scent of a fabric
"Designing my own suit was exciting: complete creative freedom also means a great deal of responsibility. I wanted something beautiful that meets expectations, but is also a little rebellious. Something more playful, not just that navy suit that everyone wears at a trade show. The process I went through with Tycho is special. The amount of fabrics alone and the feel of them… It’s a multidimensional approach to a garment. You start stroking the fabrics, folding them a little, and almost begin to smell them. There is a certain intimacy in putting together your own suit. It’s really something of mine, of no one else."
Squats in a tailored suit
"From the awareness that something is made entirely just for you, the idea arose that I also want the very best. I think that's also what appeals to me so much about Michael & Giso. It is also top-level sport: striving for perfection, for the highest achievable. From elite sports I am used to judging clothes functionally. Does it fit well? Is it dynamic? Does it regulate heat? Those elements come first, second, and third; only after that does whether something is beautiful come into play. I often found that limited in clothing."
"They do call it a ‘tailored suit’, but how well does that really work? You only find out the first time you put it on... Sometimes you think you have clothes that fit well, but that simply can't be compared to a suit like that. That it fits perfectly around your legs and waist. That may sound basic, but I can just move! I can do squats while looking like this."
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