Episode 602: Tony Tonnaer
This Blue Cast episode, Tuncay Kilickan talks with Tony Tonnaer. Tony Tonnaer (57) is a conscious consult with extensive experience in building sustainable denim brands (20-plus years). Tony is an advisor, board member and sparring partner in the denim and lifestyle industry, guiding brands and their teams towards an efficient transition from a conventional to a circular business model.
Tonnaer has always had a love for denim. He started his first job in the denim industry in 1997 at Pepe Jeans as product manager. Over the course of six years, he grew into the position as director of sourcing, working together with a number of the current denim experts like James Veenhoff (House of Denim), Jason Denham (Denham), Karl-Heinz Müller (founder Bread&Butter) and Fred Gehring & Ludo Onnink (Tommy Hilfiger).
After Pepe jeans followed an adventure developing a premium denim brand based in LA with Ulrich Simpson (UBI) before returning home to help revive the Dutch denim brand Kuyichi. He did this for a period of seven years as a dedicated managing director, building up the brand from 500,000 in sales to 10 million. He put Kuyichi on the map as the first sustainable denim brand in the European market.
In 2010 Tonnaer felt it was to make his own mark on the industry. He launched his brand, Kings of Indigo, that became one of the key pioneering denim brands at the forefront of sustainable innovations. The brand contributed to a shift in the denim industry towards producing with minimal impact without compromising on quality and price. King Of Indigo became a brand selling its collection to over 250 carefully selected retailers in 12 countries, but as a result of the effects of Covid and economic developments, in 2022 Tony Tonnaer had to let Kings Of Indigo go and the brand went into the hands of a new owner.
Tonnaer now focusses on sharing his expertise as a sustainability and circularity consultant, putting his passion to good use accelerating change in the denim and lifestyle industry.
Listen to the episode here.