A day visiting with Carlo Lanza

The first stop was at Klein Mode in Putten. The first visit this cycle for the new fall collection that I will deliver in September. Together with the team members at Klein we have put together a very nice series, including the new luxury line, cashmere & cotton. A new type of sock within my brand that will be launched in September.

Then I went to Possen, in Amsterdam. After 2 years of not speaking much to each other, it was very nice to see and speak to each other again. Besides Bas and I talking about socks and our industry, we mainly talk about world problems, politics and many other things.

Then I had to go to Belgium quickly, because I could only go there this Wednesday. Yannick from Herenmode de Waele was willing to stay open a bit longer for me and his wife also brought us a plate of pasta. At Yannick's we expanded the collection with an extra display. Very happy with this expansion, since he now has all the important colors.

In the meantime it was around 21:00 - 21:30 and I still had to find a hotel. Since I had to be in Brabant the next day, I wanted to drive that way already. In the end it became Bergen op Zoom. A glass of Vino Rosso and some work on things and then it was 00:00. Time to go to sleep. A long, but successful day 1 behind us.

The next day we got up early again. On the program were Henri's Fashion in Hoogerheide, where I, together with owner Bram, determined the autumn collection of socks. Some time ago I made a custom made sock especially for Henri's, which he then gives to good customers. The name Henri's is knitted on the footbed of the socks. A nice way to add value instead of giving a discount in the store.

After Henri's I went to Rotterdam to visit Konijnendijk among other places. I brought 2 large displays here because they are going to renovate and needed a temporary home for their sock range. Via Ridderkerk I went to Immediate Fashion. Immediate is one of the nicer wedding suit brands and with them I always look at the colours for the new season to match my colour range of socks.

Through a huge traffic jam at the A12, I arrived in Heerenveen just in time to participate in the last evening of the Evening 4 Days Marches with my son.

During these 2 days I visited relatively few customers and did make a lot of kilometers. This was because I really had to visit these customers at short notice. That is why I accepted the larger distance between the stores. Normally I plan 5 or 6 in a day and then my appointments are closer together. Because I was in the car a bit longer I was also able to call some customers again.