City Styling- @thebluefade

South of Amsterdam is the Dutch city of Utrecht, which is home to content creator, singer-songwriter & self-proclaimed coffee enthusiast Robbert Redert. We have followed Robert (@thebluefade) on Instagram for a while; watching his denim journey & taking note of the best coffee shops in the city if we should ever visit. 

A couple of months back we caught up with Robert to get his thoughts on the new range, see how he would wear the pieces & get some insight into his personal inspirations.

Robbert: Hi, I’m Robbert, I’m 23 years old and live in Utrecht, The Netherlands. I work part-time within retail, I’m a musician & run @thebluefade on the side.

I started @thebluefade out of sheer curiosity. Working for a known denim brand in the city, I had always been drawn to quality garments and in particular selvedge denim. I created @thebluefade to document that learning journey- as I discovered new fabrics, washes and processes, but also to share some styling inspiration.

It’s a big city but feels like a small town. You can easily walk from place to place without the need of transport, and while you might not see people in the creative scene often, it’s there, and when you do meet up everyone knows each other- it’s really fun. I hope to meet and work with more people in the future, but the current situation with Covid has made it difficult, I haven’t really had the chance to do so unfortunately.

The things I love the most about living here are all the different coffee shops. Every single one has something special, so you’ll undoubtedly find me in and out of a couple on my days off.

I spend most of my spare time writing songs, walking through the city (to grab another coffee), and going on what I call ‘photo strolls’. I also really live to just sit down and listen to my records, and there are days I enjoy doing nothing at all.

Hmm. I love what @d_watso does on Instagram  with his ITEM Blog. Guys like @mat_buckets & @rugged_style always manage to inspire me, and @mrdrowlands me away with his photography. Books, ‘Ametora’ by W.David Marx is a must-read for anyone who’s into men’s fashion, and I just got ‘My Archive’ by Hiroki Nakamura (Visvim).

Ah, that’s a tricky one! I think the green ripstop overshirt and the sand fatigue pants. I’ve been looking for pieces like these, and I believe they will work in anyone's wardrobe really. I like how the shirt can be worn as a throw-on layer but also as a jacket with side pockets; just drop a hoodie underneath & I’m ready to go.