ABOUT
In his collections Sjaak Hullekes plays with the fragility of men, their behaviors and modern times. With its designs Sjaak Hullekes gives its wearer a particular kind of extra, a way to escape from daily cares to create a romanticized life. To Sjaak Hullekes men's clothing succeeds only when there has been thought of its efficiency, its craftsmanship and at the same time has a refined sense of style.
The Sjaak Hullekes label brings a total men's wardrobe to be worn by contemporary sophisticated men every half a year.
Designer Sjaak Hullekes was born in october 1981 in the picturesque Dutch coastal town 'Zierikzee'. In the year 2000 he moved to Arnhem to study fashion design at the ArtEZ institute for Arts and Design. He graduated in 2005, during the first Arnhem Mode Biënnale. Next to Sjaak Hullekes people like Viktor & Rolf, Lidewij Edelkoort, Lucas Ossendrijver, Iris van Herpen and Alexander van Slobbe are alumni from this widely known Dutch academy.
January 2007 the first Sjaak Hullekes collection was shown during the Amsterdam Fashion Week. Sjaak Hullekes became the brand's creative director and designer. Sebastiaan Kramer, Sjaak's life partner and ex-classmate, became its managing director. During the Milan and Paris men's fashion weeks, June 2008, the Sjaak Hullekes brand was introduced to the international market at the Withe Homme and Rendez-Vous Homme showrooms.
November 2009 the Sjaak Hullekes label was rewarded with the Mercedes-Benz Dutch Fashion Award 2009. The international jury judged Sjaak Hullekes to be the best Dutch designer to take part in the International Fashion Industry. Part of the jury were: Beppe Angiolini, Wilbert Das, Valentina Maggi, Jean-Jacques Picart, Marc Gysemans and Mauro Galligari.
During the same period Sjaak Hullekes started its collaboration with the Paris based press-office PRESSING. As a result of this collaboration Sjaak Hullekes clothing has been used for many editorial photo-shoots, and covered in magazines like i-D, L'officiel, L'Officiel Hommes, Harpers Bazaar, Seventh Man, WAD, Encens, Tales, L'express Styles and more. Sjaak Hullekes has become a popular subject for blog-writing journalists, and has been more than once mentioned as being THE designer to become a big name in fashion.
In January 2011 Sjaak Hullekes organized a small presentation at Instiut Neérlandais, based in Paris, during the Paris Fashion Week. This presentation has been covered by magazines and websites like GQ (Italy and France), VOGUE (France), Dazed & Confused and several blogs have been positively writing about it.
April that year Sjaak Hullekes opened its first shop, located in the brand's hometown Arnhem, The Netherlands. In this shop Sjaak Hulleks men's wear is being sold next to Sjaak Hullekes home accessories and Ladurée perfumed candles.
January 2012 Sjaak Hullekes introduced his underwear line 'Sjaak Hullekes Sensitives', and was the designer to open the Amsterdam Fashion Week.
Together with perfumer Barnabe Fillion and designer & forecaster Borre Akkersdijk, Sjaak Hullekes has introduced his very first perfume in 2012.