The Nature of Things - An Interview with Erik de Groot, Founder of Boldwill.
In 1964, architect Bernard Rudofsky published Architecture Without Architects, a study of vernacular buildings shaped by generations of accumulated knowledge. These structures were not conceived in isolation from their surroundings. Climate, geography, available materials and the practicalities of daily life determined their form. Their intelligence lay in adaptation rather than imposition.
It is an interesting place to begin a conversation about clothing.
Sportswear has spent decades pursuing technical refinement, developing an impressive vocabulary of lighter fabrics, faster drying and marginal gains. Yet an industry devoted to clothing the human body has often treated the body itself as little more than a performance instrument. The experience of wearing something, and its relationship with the world beyond the wearer, have received rather less attention.
There is something faintly peculiar about optimising a garment for movement while overlooking the person moving in it.
For Erik de Groot, founder of Dutch sportswear label Boldwill, design has a connection to a discipline not usually associated with athletic apparel: architecture. His background in the built environment offers a different perspective on materials and the spaces, both physical and psychological, that people inhabit. It also introduces a more fundamental question about the assumptions underpinning the things we make.
The philosopher Ivan Illich was interested in the point at which industrial systems begin to undermine the very human purposes they were designed to serve. His criticism feels particularly pertinent to fashion, an industry whose commercial vitality depends, somewhat paradoxically, on persuading people that what they already own is no longer quite good enough.
The Dutch, meanwhile, have a long history of negotiating with nature. Much of the country’s landscape exists through an ongoing relationship with water, offering a rather practical lesson in the limits of human control. It is difficult to sustain the illusion that we can simply impose our will upon the natural world when so much of daily life depends on learning to accommodate it.
This tension between human ambition and natural systems runs through Boldwill’s philosophy of Natural Progression. It raises questions that extend beyond the design of sportswear: about the meaning of progress, the value of restraint and the responsibilities that accompany the business of making things.
There are no particularly easy answers, especially when ideals meet the commercial realities of running an independent brand. Perhaps that is what makes the conversation worth having.
We spoke with Erik de Groot about the experiences behind Boldwill, the ideas informing its approach to design and the possibility of imagining progress on rather different terms.
Your background in the built environment seems to have shaped your approach to clothing in rather unexpected ways. Architecture creates environments in which people live and move; clothing operates on a similarly intimate scale. Was there a particular moment when these disciplines converged in your thinking, and how did it change what you wanted to create?
Erik de Groot: Until two years ago, I never really found that overlap between my background and the products I design now. That realisation came when I was reading a book by Neutra and revisiting architectural philosophies concerning the relationship between people, materials and buildings. I was already familiar with these ideas, but sometimes you encounter something from a different perspective as you get older. That was one of those moments for me.
From a design perspective, I still feel I have a long way to go, so I tend to stick to pragmatic ways of thinking about how athletes interact with our products.
Your engagement with Ronald Waterman’s philosophy of building with nature, rather than against it, seems central to Boldwill. What does it genuinely mean to design in partnership with nature rather than simply borrow its language? And how does that philosophy translate into the everyday decisions of running a business?
Erik de Groot: When I met Ronald and spent an entire afternoon talking with him, I was struck by his vision of looking deeply into nature and merging that understanding with technology, without completely subverting nature to our own will.
Nature expands and contracts, and I believe it holds almost all the answers we are looking for as human beings. We have ventured so far away from nature that we sometimes forget we are just as much a part of the whole system as a plant or an animal.
And we shouldn’t forget that nature can also be harsh. There is eat or be eaten, but it all evens out in the end. I believe that equilibrium exists because things have developed naturally. It is that balance we try to honour by staying as close to nature as possible.
When this becomes an essential part of your life - the food you consume, the trips you make, the products you wear - I think it translates quite naturally into the business itself. Otherwise, it would be a fake business, and I couldn’t live that way.
We have become increasingly discerning about what we consume, yet remain surprisingly uncritical about the materials we wear against our bodies. Have we become so accustomed to synthetic textiles that we have stopped questioning their relationship with our bodies and the environments in which we live? What do you think we are overlooking?
Erik de Groot: There are numerous barriers that have brought us to this point. For one, synthetics offer genuine benefits, particularly in sportswear: water repellency, durability and lightweight construction, for example. But I think these properties are considerably overrated for many people using the products.
People often feel that optimising performance should take precedence over health, but I think that is a major misconception. Of course, there are trade-offs. Wearing heavier materials, for example, might inhibit performance. But for non-professional athletes, I don’t think that outweighs the potential health risks of sweating in chemicals.
Even professional athletes might consider wearing more natural materials during training, although that becomes a greyer area when you take the other performance considerations into account.
People would rather take a GLP-1 than work out, or spend enormous amounts of money on peptides instead of simply eating healthily. I think nature is immensely complex, but the formula for modern humans is quite simple: use what nature gives you.
You have been refreshingly candid about the challenges of creating entirely plastic-free performance clothing. In an industry where sustainability is often presented as a finished destination, how do you navigate the compromises that remain unavoidable? Where do you draw the line between accepting today’s limitations and challenging them?
Erik de Groot: I think this is where our core belief comes together. Nothing is ever truly finished. We are always working against entropy, while benefiting from advances in human knowledge. As individuals, we can keep learning, and products can always be improved.
Of course, there are works of art that are perfect as they are. But sportswear involves several considerations beyond the art of making something: performance, health and sustainability.
There are certainly times when what we want to achieve simply isn’t viable for us. Before reaching that point, though, I think you have to try a lot of things. Sometimes the timing just isn’t right.
For me, it comes down to balancing questions with people who have a deeper understanding of a particular subject against knowing when something isn’t worth the time we have available at a given moment.
I could spend my entire day solving these challenges. But ultimately, we also have to build a brand that demonstrates things can be done differently. So much of the work involves getting from a theoretical idea to an actual product.
In an industry driven by seasonal novelty and constant replenishment, Boldwill’s emphasis on longevity feels almost countercultural. What makes an object genuinely timeless, beyond its aesthetic appeal? And can a business built around making things that last reconcile commercial growth with the idea that people should ultimately need less?
Erik de Groot: That is indeed countercultural and counterintuitive. If you build a business that survives by selling products, how can you simultaneously want people to buy less?
Honestly, I think overconsumption is the main problem with fashion. People buy, or are persuaded to buy, products they don’t actually need. We want people to make more conscious decisions about what they purchase. Do you really need it, or do you just think you need it?
For that to happen, products also have to offer something meaningful: prolonged happiness for the people who buy them. In fashion, I think that means creating things that don’t go out of style and can be worn for many years.
You could argue that because fashion moves in cycles, trends aren’t necessarily a problem if products are resold second-hand. But fast fashion has degraded quality so significantly across almost every category that products often struggle to survive that lifecycle.
Beyond performance, optimisation and appearance, there seems to be a more human dimension to your thinking: comfort, confidence and a sense of ease. Do you think the emotional relationship we have with clothing has been overlooked? Could the ultimate expression of good design be a garment that feels so right we barely notice it?
Erik de Groot: Yes, I think good design makes people feel good. It’s a little like the intuition you experience when entering a building and sensing something about it, or when listening to a piece of music you love.
When people wear our sportswear, I want them to progress with a peaceful mind. Not to push themselves out of themselves, but to become more in touch with themselves as they develop in their sport.
One thing many people tell us when they buy our gear is that these are the most comfortable products they’ve ever worn. It should provide a layer of comfort without becoming a distraction, as some synthetic products can when they become static against the skin or cause irritation.
Your commitment to European production, traceability and closer manufacturing relationships suggests that responsibility begins long before a garment reaches its wearer. Has this proximity to the people and processes behind your products changed your understanding of responsible production? What do you wish consumers knew about what goes into making something well?
Erik de Groot: That’s a difficult question for me to answer, because I’ve never experienced what it’s like to work with partners who are really far away, apart from a few specific aspects of product development.
From the beginning, we wanted to create something as locally as possible. Before starting this journey, I was quite disconnected from many of the products I bought. But whenever I bought something local, like honey, it made the experience more tangible. I could better understand what I was consuming.
That connection with clothing is something that has unfortunately been lost for many people, both through overconsumption and distant production.
By working closer to home, we can speak more easily with the people throughout our supply chain. It gives us a strong foundation, rooted in trust and cooperative efforts to make beautiful products.
Natural Progression suggests an ongoing willingness to learn, adapt and improve, rather than a fixed destination. Looking twenty years ahead, what would you hope Boldwill had contributed beyond the products themselves? And what would constitute a meaningful legacy for you, both professionally and personally?
Erik de Groot: Natural Progression isn’t simply a tagline for the brand. To me, it’s a way of life, a reminder that human beings have always pushed beyond the knowledge of those who came before us, each in their own time and at their own pace.
Just as some plants grow faster than others, nature has different rhythms of progression. But it always seems to find a way forward.
That idea gives me a lot of hope, both personally and in relation to the business. Ultimately, I believe in the idea that growing at your own pace is perfectly fine, regardless of what society expects of you.
That philosophy also extends to better product design and development. I hope this mission continues long after I’ve invested all my energy and time in it. Fortunately, we’re already getting the next generation involved in the brand, and I think they’ll do a wonderful job of carrying that hope for a better future forward.
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Words and questions by AW.
Answers courtesy of Erik de Groot.
Photo courtesy of Boldwill.
