1982 - 1985: Euro-Fashions B.V.
Director of Marketing for 17 fashion & sportswear labels
As `Mr. Diners` I built up a fertile and strong relationship with `Mr. Arrow`, Hans Muller.
Together
with his associate drs. Piet van Leeuwen, Hans Muller was the `founding
father` and face of Euro-Fashions B.V.
Euro Fashions was an offensive and
sophisticated corporation for several leading fashion and sportswear
labels in The Netherlands with many networks worldwide.
Once a famous water polo player (and in the very past an active and
successful member of the Dutch Olympic Team !) Hans loved sports in
general and soccer, watersports and skying in particular. On the other
hand he was a very successful business man, team player and he had a strong passion for fashion as well.
As I could not fullfil anymore my personal ambitions at Diners Club Headquarters, after 4 years of intensive work, -to young to become the new Managing Director of the stiff upperlip Diners Club ?- I was seriously interested the moment Hans Muller offered me
the opportunity to become first Director of Marketing within
the holding of Euro-Fashions at `Confectie Centrum` in Amsterdam.
As I had also developed a personal life style, in my career at
Diners Club in particular, I decided to take this challenging
opportunity. During a roaring period of more than 3 years at
Euro-Fashions I restructured all marketing efforts for the various labels and created -together with four different publicity
agencies- new brand awarenesses for existing labels such as:
- Arrow Shirts
- Lady Arrow
- McGregor
- Lady McGregor
- McGregor Jr.
- Marianne David
- eQuip
- Ciao
- Mighty Mac
- Manhattan Shirts
- Comte of Florence
- Ellesse (tennis & ski)
- Cruyff Sports*
- King Shirts
- Lady King
- Ellesse Surf
- DiMaggio shirts
- Ralph Lauren Polo
During this period I worked close together with various `label managers` and with several ceiebrities such as:
- soccer player and trainer Johan Cruijff, to launch his personal brand Cruyff Sports*
- Leonardo Servadio (inititals LS = the founding father of Ellesse) in Italy,
- Ralph Lauren to launch his new (and on that time unknown !) brand Polo in The Netherlands
In this vivid period I built up a close relationship as well with The Society Shop; with chairman Ed Beer & his `deputy` Oger Lusink in particular. Oger became lateron a fashion celibrity. with his own brand name Oger..
Thanks to Hans Muller I could experience entrepreneurship on so many occasions within the ranks of Euro-Fashions . That`s why I became eager to become entrepreneur myself. But in my case in my own `field of sports`: marketing & communications.
So I did by accepting- through my own holding company TOPAZ, Management & Beheer bv- the challenging position as Managing Director of the direct marketing agency Prad/NPP B.V. in Amsterdam.
But that is an other story, starting in the year 1985...