You probably know your way to buy our socks online on our webshop, but did you know that our socks are also available in physical stores? Even on the other side of the world? You’re probably wondering how these socks end up there. We owe that to our hardworking agents – colleagues on a distance who do their very best to get a sustainable sock in every drawer. It’s about time to meet these hardworking agents.
Thom Westerkamp is our Dutch agent. After a career in the clothing industry, he now works as an agent in the shoe industry. He accidentally got in touch with Forebel (the brother of Forebel’ owner was busy working in his garden). A great connection was born!
Thom runs his own company with his wife Patricia and works from his showroom in Nieuwegein, the Netherlands. Forebel can be found in his showroom for several years now. Thanks to Thom, owners of shoe stores in the Netherlands and Belgium can extend their supply with sustainable socks, partially made of old fishing nets.
‘If I do something, I want to do it right', states the motivated Thom. ‘I believe in the story of Forebel and in the product’, he explains. Fun fact: our socks are tremendously popular at stores close by to the sea – according to Thom.
It’s not hard to tell that Thom enjoys his job, but the best part for him is the positive reactions he gets when he tells people about Forebel. ‘On the other hand, I also think it’s amazing to watch how an organization as Forebel works with a small and dedicated team on a product to make this world a better place.’
One of our other agents is Themis, he works in Greece. Themis has been representing different clothing companies in Greece for many years now. Through his great network, he got in touch with Forebel.
He admits that in the beginning, he wasn’t too enthusiastic to get involved in socks, but when he heard the story from fishing net to sock, he was hooked. Themis has always been interested in sustainability but explains that Greece is not a very sustainable country yet. ‘For the last few years, this is changing, that’s also why my interest in Forebel got bigger’, he says.
Themis started as a Forebel agent in 2021 and already got in touch with a lot of potential clients. He even launched a Greek social media page for Forebel!
The way the Greeks respond to our socks is always very funny, Themis explains. ‘They basically give the same first reaction as I did. First, they’re not interested, but when I tell them the story about these socks, they get super enthusiastic.’ In this way Themis made it happen that our socks are available in a few big shopping malls in Greece.
Greece is a land of the ocean and sadly a lot of polluting fishing nets. It’s extra important to make the people there more aware of the pollution that is occurring. ‘I’m happy to contribute to the right mindset for the people here and to explain to them more about the obstacles around fishing nets. With Forebel I can inspire people to help, by simply buying socks.’
