Discover Benelux | (Hand)made in Belgium | Top Designs
White golden dreams TEXT: HANNE COUDERÉ | PHOTOS: FJA-OEYEN MOL
With 60 years of experience making down duvets, the Fja-Oeyen Mol family business still values quality and handcraft the most. Without losing their tradition, they look for new ways to expand. “Too few people know that a down duvet drastically increases your sleep comfort. Teaching people more healthy sleeping habits, that’s our mission.” A certain welcoming familiarity grips you when entering the Fja-Oeyen Mol business in the Belgian city of Mol. The kind that reminds you of your childhood, and almost makes you feel like you are coming home. Possibly because Piet and An Oeyen – both husband and wife and business partners – are discussing sheet patterns in between having coffee with their three sons. Or maybe because you are surrounded by waterbeds covered by soft down duvets in silken sheets. Or perhaps it is the passion, commitment and con16 | Issue 24 | December 2015
viction radiating from everyone in the store, which is rare to find among salespeople nowadays. The down duvets and bed linen are still hand made in the company’s own workshop in Mol, according to the traditional processes. Each duvet is given a specific passport number which is recorded in an antique notebook. New down duvets are packed in carton boxes printed in a four-generation-old design, recognisable to all whose parents or grandparents proudly owned an ‘Oeyen-down-duvet’. Call it nostalgia, but it is this philosophy that guarantees quality and a personalised treatment, both during the purchase and the aftercare. “From nightcaps to dog jackets, any special request we can produce,” An smiles.
Increasing sleep comfort The Oeyen family was the first to introduce the down duvet in Belgium, and until today it remains one of the few companies
worldwide offering high-quality down. Piet’s grandfather, Frans Oeyen, a tailor by trade, was deported to Germany during the Second World War. While doing all kinds of sewing jobs for the Germans, he became inspired by the traditional German and Scandinavian way of making down duvets. After the war, he and his son started experimenting with down and plumes. Profiting from the prosperous economy in the late 1950s, their small business became a success. When Piet and An took over the helm, they were confronted with a changing market and increasing competition; they had to choose between mass production or quality. They chose the latter. Their sons, who now represent the fourth generation, feel the same way. “Oeyen will always be a synonym for excellence. But looking at the future, there is certainly room to grow. We have one store in Mol and one in Antwerp. We now have to look at how to expand – in Belgium,