Just in Case

This is the story of two women who met on a bus. It took them a few years to realize their spirits were siblings, I guess they first had to lead their own lives. Two worlds needed to be perceived separately, through a different set of eyes, before settling down to create the Just In Case collection.

If beauty is in the eye of the beholder, detail is in the very souls of Vicky Vinck and Katrien Strijbol. Their vision on fashion is playful, their intuition unequalled. There is no catch, only a very elegant edge. Imagine Just In Case as an antique storybook, passed on from generation to generation, with pictures that selectively reveal themselves. Behind every detail there is a story, and yet the whole picture is bigger than expected. Every chapter is cast in its own setting, and just when you think you’ve seen it all, you find there’s another hidden door

When I first met Vicky and Katrien, I asked them where they found their inspiration. Katrien pulled out a musty, ivory coloured garment from her handbag and looked at me as if she had just given me the answer to all questions. It took me a couple of seconds to figure it out, and then I got it. Or at least, I thought I did. She pointed at the embroidered edges of the dress and said: “That’s what this collection is about”.

Just In Case is as much about detail as it is about time. In fact, it unites both. It’s a tribute to romance, a reverence to sensuality. It won’t allow the moment to be forgotten, just as it won’t permit a woman to be anything less than gracefully bold. Picture Just In Case as a music box, carved by a mysterious craftsman. Each time the box is opened, a lullaby is played. It might be a different tune, but the box remains the same.

The flame ignited in 1999. That’s the first time Katrien and Vicky shaped their dreams into a collection. Every so often the box is re-opened and out comes a different tune.

And as they dance their way into a new collection, two painters, whose spirits still hover above the drawing board, look down on their granddaughters and smile.