So, Valérie. Where did Berrie come from?
I have a slightly annoying habit of looking at things and immediately thinking: "I could make that myself."
A painting in a museum? I could probably make that myself.
A cute personalised gift? Definitely.
So one day, I decided to put that habit to the test and ordered myself an embroidery machine. I had no idea what I was doing, but I started experimenting with gifts for friends, newborns, and eventually with anything I could think of.
And I LOVED it. It got so out of hand that most nights I was dreaming about different shades of thread.
Was there a particular moment when you thought: "Okay, this could actually become something"?
Not really. Berrie wasn't some carefully planned business idea. It grew out of something I genuinely loved doing.
I'm the person who gets excited about going to a fabric store and buying 1 meter of a cute fabric without having the slightest idea what I'm going to make with it. I love trying things, making something with my hands and turning a random idea into something that makes people smile.
I also love making everyday things a little more fun. My Pilates socks are personalised, I have my own embroidered beach towel to go to the beach in my hometown Knokke, and when friends come over for dinner, there might be personalised napkins waiting for them. So I suppose Berrie was always going to happen eventually.
And what do you want Berrie to be?
Thoughtful gifts for sweet moments.
I want to make things that feel personal — pieces that make someone think "this is so me" or "they made this just for me."
A name embroidered in a beautiful font. A design inspired by a baby's birth card. Their favourite colours. A little detail that means something to them.
Berrie is for newborns, best friends, work besties, favourite aunts, grandmas, mums, neighbours... basically anyone who deserves a thoughtful little something.
Okay, but why Berrie? 🍓
Because who doesn't love berries?
They're sweet, colourful and a little bit playful — which felt pretty fitting.
And there's a little story hidden in the name too. The B is for Bob, my other half, and RIE is for Valérie.
The logo is also very much me. I love watercolour, so I started painting berries, liked one of them and thought: that's it. So I painted the little berry that became the Berrie logo myself.
Where do you make everything?
At home in Amsterdam, alongside my job in tech.
Berrie is my creative escape from corporate life. One minute I'm working in tech, the next I'm choosing between 27 shades of pink thread.
When I'm not working or embroidering, you'll probably find me biking around Amsterdam with the sun on my face and my big Loewe sunglasses on, SUP-ing through the canals and inevitably falling in, reading on my e-reader, baking something unnecessarily ambitious or heading to Knokke.
And yes, I've embroidered my own oven mitts. They get a lot of use when I'm making my giant raspberry-filled cake.
So what's the dream for Berrie?
A sunny studio in Amsterdam.
Walls full of colourful thread, workshops around a big table and a little embroidery station where you can walk in, choose your favourite piece and have it personalised in 30 minutes.
For now, we're not quite there yet. Everything is made by me, from home, one piece at a time. And I quite like it that way 🍓