And to make the party complete, his biography Soul for every Sole was also launched. So a lot of attention for this sprightly shoe icon. "Rightly so, because it is one of the very great ones," said Rinske Jurgens, managing director of the Shoe Quarter. Starting Oct. 8, everyone can enjoy Typical Fred. A must for the many Fred fans and a big surprise for everyone else.
Stormy career
The life of Fred de la Bretonnière therefore captures the imagination. Discover in the Schoenenkwartier (Shoe Quarter) how Fred, around 1970, wanted to earn some extra money with self-designed wristbands and leather buckles and then got a taste for it. Be amazed at how he then rapidly conquered his place in the Dutch bag and shoe market because as early as 1976, Fred was named best Dutch shoe and bag designer. It is the beginning of a stormy career that is far from subsiding. In 2019, FreSh BV acquires the then Bretoniere Group. While the Fred de la Bretonière and Shabbies Amsterdam brands will have new owners, the iconic shoes and bags will remain. Typically Fred is thus both an oeuvre exhibition and a snapshot in time. Not bad for a self-taught designer who actually wanted to become a painter. "When I sold my first bags to the Bijenkorf, I heard they were going to pay me out of the budget for budding designers," Fred recounts with pleasant eyes in the Shoe Quarter. "That's when I first thought: hey, so I'm a designer. I avoided peers; I learned the trade in practice."
Getting started with Fred
An exhibition about a whirlwind like Fred de la Bretonnière naturally calls for additional programming. For example, up to four foodies can attend the City Bags workshop every Wednesday afternoon. In the spirit of Fred, they design and make their own cool bag. And children will prove during the fall vacation whether they are as stubborn and creative as Fred during the Typisch Ik workshops. Furthermore, everyone can become part of the exhibition by photographing themselves with or on their own Freds. After all, they can upload the result at https://schoenenkwartier.nl/overzichtstentoonstelling-typisch-fred/ Fans Fred has plenty. His biggest fan, Mili Gabrovsek-Sanders from The Hague fan, even has 27 pairs of Freds in her closet. She was allowed to open the exhibition together with her idol.
Honest book and unique bags
It is also typical of Fred that his work leaves you wanting more. Great, then, that the book Soul for every Sole, published by Waanders Publishers and written by Bianca Bartels, is available in the museum shop. "It has not become a hagiography, not a canonization. Fred also allowed me to question other people," says the author. "It became a book about a vain man with a lot of passion who wanted to make the most beautiful bags and shoes his brain came up with." In Fred's own words, "You have to realize your own ideas, not get distracted." In the museum shop, you can also buy some limited edition bags produced in honor of Fred's 80th birthday. They are named after important women in his life: the Suzanna, Marianneke and Esmee Bags. Furthermore, Fred's fans will find unique cards and earrings in the museum shop. That too is Typical Fred; after all, he is as talented a designer as he is an entrepreneur. A headstrong artist who knows how to sell himself excellently.
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Typically Fred, tm 21 April 2025 in the Schoenenkwartier in Waalwijk
