The Bali Interviews… Rik & Kim, Designers for 21DGRS.

Like creativity, traveling, freedom, birds, surfing, good veggie food, Bali coffee.

Dislike trash, traffic, ignorance, hangovers, sunburn.

What do you do?

We design fashion and jewellery for our labels 21dgrs and Faith21, work on our online store www.21conceptstore.com and run the Twenty One Concept Store with a partner on Bali.

What inspires you in your work?

We are inspired by exotic cultures and folkloric tales and are fascinated by symbolism and animal mythology. Our travels let us discover and explore various traditional techniques and fabric handicrafts. We love to combine oldschool craftsmanship and antique fabrics and printing techniques with a modern touch to create a fusion of the old with the new.

Where can we find you? (website, shops etc)

You can find our labels at www.21dgrs.com and www.faith21.com and soon shop online at www.21conceptstore.com as well as at Twenty Once Concept Store in Seminyak on Bali. 21dgrs is currently sold in boutiques in Hamburg, Berlin, Duesseldorf, Byron Bay and Brisbane. Faith21 is sold in Streetwear and Lifestyle stores across Germany.

How did you come to be working in Bali?

Our passion for surfing and yoga brought us to Bali a couple of years ago and every year we stayed longer and longer. We love to work with small family businesses where we have total transparency over the production and work hand in hand with the people on the products. Bali is such a diverse cultural place that serves as inspiration on a daily basis.

What challenges have you faced starting up here?

The cultural differences and different mentalities made starting up here a little bit rough especially when it comes to deadlines and time management as Balinese are often on a different work schedule due to many religious ceremonies and strong family obligations.

For you, what are the advantages and disadvantages of working in Bali?

The advantages are clearly the people we met and work with, the high quality of Balinese handcraftsmanship with the inspiring traditional techniques and of course the nature itself surrounding us. The disadvantage is clearly the sometimes limited supply of special fabrics and yarns and the crazy traffic drives us mad!