Who are you?
I’m Anneloes van Gaalen, owner of Paperdoll Writing, and author of several books, the latest being ‘Indie Brands: 30 Independent Brands that Inspire and Tell a Story.’

What do you do?
In essence I look for stories. Stories that inspire me personally and that I believe are worth sharing. The end product can vary from a book to a documentary, website or festival and so sometimes I work as editor or curator, other times as producer. But it all boils down to writing. Before you can even think about producing or creating anything you need to put pen to paper and write down your idea or concept.

What is indie brands?
Indie Brands delves into the world of independent brands. The book, which has recently been published, shows the creative people behind the brand, the visual eye candy they create, the space they work in and the inspiring items they surround themselves with. But there is also a blog and festival, the first edition was held on December 22 in Pakhuis de Zwijger Amsterdam.

What will you show us?
Six examples of inspiring indie brands.

Story suggested by Saskia @ thewicked.be

What?
OAT shoes started out as a graduation project, but has developed into the world’s first fully biodegradable sneaker brand. Because of the seeds that are embedded in the tongue of the shoes you can wear them down, bury them in the ground and watch plants grow from your old sneaker.

Who?
Industrial designer Christiaan Maats came up with the idea of creating a sustainable sneaker brand, while doing research for his graduation project on shoe design.

Quote?
“I just wanted to be able to throw my shoes away. Ideally in the green bin. Or even better: stick them in the ground, have a flower grow from it and really be a part of the natural cycle.”

What?
The “most wide-awake” cola in the world with some 25 mg of caffeine per 100 ml: “A cola for students, nighthawks and people who don’t want to go to bed.”

Who?
Some brands are born out of necessity, others spring forth out of some luminous idea and still others are based on a life-long friendship. In the back of their minds, friends Lorenz Hampl and Mirco Wolf Wiegert always knew they would end up in business together. Running “the most wide-awake” cola brand wasn’t their first idea, but it would turn out to be their best.

Quote?
“We always had plenty of ideas,” Hampl says, “From running our own cleaning brigade to opening our own restaurant. One fine day, while having a pizza and cola in the student cafeteria,  we had the bright idea of putting our own brand of cola on the market. Only ours was going to be totally different from all the others  ever found on the supermarket shelves. And, of course, with lots more caffeine,  just the thing to wake you up.”

What?
Etat Libre d’Orange has been created as an independent free state. With perfumes like Fat Electrician, Jasmin et Cigarettes and Encens & Bubblegum, owner and founder Etienne de Swardt is shaking up what he himself describes as a “stiff-as-a-poker perfumery world.” The fragrances that are made under the Etat Libre d’Orange label are composed by guest perfumers who get to enjoy complete artistic freedom. The results are cheeky concepts like Sécrétions Magnifiques (Magnificent Secretions) – which smells like a mixture of blood, sweat, sperm and saliva – and Putain des Palaces (Hotel Slut) – which is in essence an ode to the Ladies of the Night.

Quote?
“We’d rather please one person than 99. Everything in the world of perfumery is about pleasing people: from the scent to the packaging. We like to go about it a different way. We love dirty formulations: the more disruptive and the more exciting, the better.”

What?
Milque was born out one skateboarder’s dream of riding his own deck, as well as his love for milk and cookies. It might be an odd combination, but German-born Michael Mieskes makes it work. He and his milque team now ride their handmade boards, wearing their own line of t-shirts.

Quote?
“After skate sessions I used to drink a glass of cool milk and eat some cookies. For some reason that was a part of my skate session and I did that every single time I came home after skating. So in honor of that tradition we named the brand milque. Later I also found out that my great-grandfather once owned a small milk shop, so I guess that’s where my love for milk comes from.”

What?
Amazing bags. All of the bags are made by hand in the brand’s shop, which has a studio in the back, hidden from view. “We have a separate studio, but we keep the work table and sewing machine in the shop as well. It’s to show our customers that we make all the bags ourselves,” says Azpiroz, who also admits it’s a convenient place to work on the more quiet weekdays, “We’re in the upper Marais part of Paris, which is the design area. It’s very busy in the weekend, but during the week it can be a bit quiet. Instead of having some shop assistant sit here and do nothing, you can simply continue working right here in the shop.”

Who? 
The roles at the Paris-based bag brand Matières à Réflexion are clearly defined. Laetitia Azpiroz is the designer, while fellow founder Cyrille Railliet takes care of marketing and sales. They bring a completely different set of skills to the table, but share a passion for giving old fabric a new lease of life.

How did it start?
What started out as a money-saving scheme for a communications agency has turned into one of the biggest online file-transferring platforms, not in the least thanks to one brand-savvy blogger. As WeTransfer continues to grow, the owners try to make sure that their service remains simple, good-looking and free of charge.

Who?
Every day thousands of followers visit Nalden’s blog in search of inspiration. Here the king of cool himself writes about new trends and products from the world of music, design and technology. But even more interesting than the posts themselves, is the fact that Nalden has turned his blog into a money-making machine thanks to a business model that relies solely on turning wallpapers into ad spaces.

Quote?
“The idea was to launch this simple file transfer tool. In contrast with YouSendIt we wanted our tool to be simple. As a joke we titled the project You Send it, We Transfer. But the name stuck.”