Hello I am,
Sam van IJzendoorn.
I am the founder of VIJZ
Hi I am Sam,
Back in 2013 I started restoring sneakers in my attic room. With VIJZ, which is based on my family name ‘Van IJzendoorn’, I wanted to bring old collector items back to life, which originated from an extraordinary passion for sneakers. After three years of refurbishing sneakers, my ambitions grew by the day and I wanted to develop myself. I decided to take a different path in which my creativity would be expressed even better. The craft of shoemaking in combination with entrepreneurship is still the foundation of my work on a daily basis.
Interview
-
It has to be Tom, this guy is great at expressing himself with words. When he isn’t able to find the right words, he loves to make up his own. We would call it a speaker, but only Tom would call it a music box. He will always find a way of making us laugh with his dry humor.
-
There have been multiple projects that were quite challenging, but if I had to choose one it would have to be the BALR shoes for McDonalds. Another contender for the most challenging project could also be the Alexander McQueen shoes for 21Savage. The McDonalds x BALR shoes were designed to have a logo that lights up. It was crazy sh*t to say the least. The ones we made for 21Savage were the first high end luxury shoes we created, that weren’t sneakers. He also wanted a Jason mask. That shoe took me two full two weeks in total, but they did come out sick.
-
My mom. Why? ‘Cause she is always loving and has the biggest heart. She does everything for our family and is always there for us. My dad and her have given me the kind of upbringing where they encouraged me to follow my ambitions. Because of this I was able to grow and evolve.
-
My fave way to relax has to be spending time with my family at home. Spending time with my son, playing in the garden and doing fun stuff together.
-
Oooh, boy oh boy. I think I’d tell myself to do my best at school. It might be a cliche, but I should have actually done that. I was easily distracted when something didn’t spark my interest. Apart from that I could have been able to develop more in general subjects such as Dutch and English. My results were always just good enough to get me through, you know? Maybe I’d tell myself to try not to always have it my own way. My ideas were not always the best solution, no matter how much I believed in it. Sometimes, other people are right too.