Knipidee International BV received the Audience Award at the election Enterprise of the Year 2025-2026. With over 41 per cent of the votes, the international fabric wholesaler managed to convince a wide audience. Its craftsmanship, family DNA and authentic story proved to have strong appeal. For a company that normally operates mainly behind the scenes of the fashion industry, this appreciation feels extra meaningful.
The foundation of Knipidee lies in family entrepreneurship. Fifteen years ago, sisters Stéphanie and Charlaine Soester decided to join their parents' business, which was founded 50 years ago by their father Patrick. "At the time, he and his then business partner opened several fabric shops across the Netherlands. Later, he and his wife Yvonne built up the wholesale business. Entrepreneurship is in our blood," says Charlaine.
From temporary deployment to permanent role
After their studies, the sisters initially started supporting online activities. What was intended as a temporary contribution soon grew into a structural role within the organisation. Stéphanie took responsibility for collection development, customer relations and international sourcing. Charlaine focused on internal processes, inside sales, customer service and organisational development. Under their joint leadership, Knipidee experienced strong growth: the organisation doubled in size and today consists of about 50 employees in Almere and about 40 sales agents worldwide.
Warm family business
Despite its international scale, the family culture is still palpable within the company. Long tenures are the rule rather than the exception and loyalty is seen as a core value. "We have employees celebrating their anniversaries with us every year. That says something about who Knipidee is as an employer," says Stéphanie. At the same time, the current labour market brings new challenges, especially within logistics. "It is difficult to find good people. You want a stable base team you can build on."
Active on the global market
The fabrics developed by Knipidee itself find their way to customers around the world. The customer base ranges from international fashion brands and national retailers to manufacturers of curtains, baby products and bags, among others. "A lot of people have clothes in their closets that contain our fabric, without them knowing it," says Stéphanie. Only a small part of sales is made in the Netherlands; the largest volume is delivered to customers in Europe and beyond. Thanks to a stock of millions of metres of fabric, customers can move quickly and respond to changing trends.
Experience as a differentiator
An important calling card of Knipidee is its showroom of no less than 2,500m square metres. In this space, the collections are presented in carefully designed settings that enhance the applications and quality of the fabrics. Every day, the sisters welcome customers, agents and international suppliers here. "We want people to come in and experience the wow effect. When we do something, we want to do it well," says Charlaine. "Not because we have to, but out of passion and quality."
Also come to Almere
Almere is the youngest city in the Netherlands and rapidly developing, which makes it attractive to startups and innovative, sustainable businesses. The city offers a unique blend of technological progress and sustainable transition, with a contemporary infrastructure and convenient location. Almere promotes growth and collaboration, and offers entrepreneurs the space to pioneer, innovate and flourish. Almere gives entrepreneurs space!
Read entrepreneurial stories >>
Stay up to date with the latest news, interesting developments for you as a (potential) entrepreneur and upcoming events? Follow us on LinkedIn or sign up for the newsletter here.