ILJA is the brand founded by Ilja Visser. Ilja Visser (born April 15, 1978, in IJsselstein) graduated in 2001 from the ArtEZ University of the Arts in Arnhem, where she studied Fashion Design. In 2005, she launched her couture line 'ILJA', followed in 2007 by her prêt-à-porter line 'Ready to Fish'. Three years later, Visser founded her own fashion house under the name Ilja Visser Group, based on the Prinsengracht in Amsterdam. In 2011, she received the Fashion Stipend Award from the Prince Bernhard Culture Fund and held a show at the Rijksmuseum that same year. In 2013, she exhibited her couture line at Galeries Lafayette Haussmann in Paris.

The new brand initially referenced her couture background with a wink, but the goal was to take a much more commercial approach. With Ilja 2.0, the focus was solely on online sales. As a sublabel, there’s Suits & Softs by ILJA, a suit brand for women. We worked on it for just over a year, but due to COVID, we experienced a year-long delay and officially launched in January. The "suits" part speaks for itself, while "softs" refers to sweatsuits.

The brand has a special story, as we aim to produce as sustainably as possible. Typically, textile production involves massive water consumption and chemical dye usage, which is highly harmful to the environment. Instead, we travel to factories in Portugal and purchase leftover fabrics from major brands. These are beautiful materials that would otherwise be left to waste in huge warehouses. We use them to create our suits, which are therefore always limited edition. Once a piece is sold out, it’s truly gone — we don’t restock.

Our sweatsuits are made from organic cotton and recycled polyester, and, like our suits, they are produced in the Netherlands. We also offer a few couture dresses with a nod to Ilja’s couture roots, all handmade in Amsterdam. In this way, we try to keep everything as local as possible and contribute to a more responsible fashion industry. We don’t launch massive collections and keep inventory minimal.

Since Ilja was essentially starting fresh, this was a test collection where we only offered sizes S, M, and L. It was somewhat risky not knowing exactly how the fit would work out or who our audience would be. However, thanks to data insights — in part gathered through our collaboration with Polaris Growth, which I’ll elaborate on shortly — we discovered that our primary audience consists of women aged 25–34. That was somewhat surprising to us, but it also made sense. This group is often just starting their careers and looking for a suit that’s not outrageously expensive but still a step above fast fashion options like Zara. The back of our suits is embroidered, making each one truly unique. Besides young professionals, many mothers also wear our suits — women who want to add something special to their outfit without going too mainstream.

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