YOU ARE THE CREATIVE MIND OF THE emphasis on the quality of our products and in making BRAND, WHAT INSPIRES YOU? sure we have a good distribution system for our brand and are ranked correct in the market. I get my inspiration from my travels, from nature, for daily impressions, art exhibits I visit, from people IWHERE DOES YOUR BRAND’S NAME COME see in the streets…I follow the trends and I do some FROM? shoppingof course, but not too much. The hardest part is to create a new theme each season. Once it’s We were looking for a brand name that sounded done, we can start looking for the right materials andAmerican since that’s where the casual and create new models. sportswear inspiration came from. And we were creating clothes, so we chose American Outfitters, WHAT’S YOUR DAILY LIFE LIKE? in short: AO. the “76” part comes from the year the company was created, in 1976. When we’re working on the collection, I arrive at the office very early in the morning to work with my team. Once the collection is ready or when it’s in Fun, happiness, freedom, production, I go to some fairs and I travel to find new ‘‘ manufacturers and/or inspiration while keeping an play: these are some of the key eye on production. values of AO76 Kids! THE AVAILABILITY OF CHILDREN’S FASHION HAS EVOLVED A LOT THESE LAST FEW YEARS. HOW DO YOU MANAGE TO SET YOUR BRAND APART FROM YOUR COMPETITORS? WHAT’S NEXT? By staying true to our image and true to the AO76 We want to keep creating cool collections that style while following the latest trends. By putting anchildren and their parents really like. We follow the trends and the market. Our products are distributed in our own stores, in other boutiques and we want to develop our e-commerce even more. Young people buy more and more on the internet nowadays. 3 KID-FRIENDLY ADDRESSES IN YOUR CITY? Eat at Vooruit, our city’s art déco and cultural centre. Visit the STAM museum, it tells the history of our city and is has a beautiful location. Go for a boat trip on the Gand canals, even more beautiful than the ones from Bruges according to some people. End your day with some shoppin at Korte Dagsteeg where we haveg Discover the last arrivals from AO76 on smallable.com Photos & text: Yasmina Perez 66 ‘‘