when i was invited to join EASTPAK on a trip to rotterdam, the plan was three-fold. ONE, join a group of female influencers, journalists and bloggers to meet with rotterdam’s most creative and entrepreneurial women to listen to their stories and be inspired by their actions. if you’ve read my new series on kick-ass women around here, you know i was up for that. TWO, take a tour of rotterdam’s hippest places, shops, coffee bars and restaurants. basically half of this blog is devoted to that kind of design- and experience-inspired travel, so yeah, bring it on. THREE, get to know the AMINIMAL collection eastpak designed for busy women on the move. hell yes, count me in.
like so many people my age, i grew up in the nineties collecting eastpaks like they were going out of style. but that was the thing – they never did go out of style. i had backpacks in different colors and prints, messenger bags and i even faintly remember a fannypack, though i’ll probably deny having had one if you ever confront me with it in real life. in short though, eastpak was a huge part of my life during high school.
i wouldn’t say i fell out of love with the brand after that, but as with all great friends you meet in your teens, you kinda lose touch a little bit. but then – again, as with many great high school friends – we ran into each other again. me as a fashion journalist, eastpak as the originator of one designer collab after the other. and suddenly it was as if we had never left each other’s sides. i fell hard for the A.P.C. backpack i got for christmas last year, and now i’m completely in love with the FLASK CHEETAH kindly gifted to me by the brand.
back to the trip – which started and ended with great coffee by MAN MET BRIL. we were treated by a little street concert by SEVDA LIZA, and we met the inspiring ladies behind cultural center HIP HOP HUIS, lunch bar PICKNICK, music festival MOTEL MOZAIQUE, and fashion brand C.CRUDEN, among others. i really loved our visit to concept store GROOS, where everything sold is designed locally, and to BARRELPROOF, a great little cocktail shop where we tasted locally produced BOBBY’S GIN.
rotterdam – you were pretty amazing. our schedule was packed, so i barely got to take everything in, but that is the perfect excuse to go back soon. if you’re considering a trip, make sure to check out the brand new KING KONG HOSTEL in rotterdam’s hip witte de with street.
photos by stephanie duval