The most challenging in my job is to keep our customers satisfied…We sometimes work for clients with extremely high demands, and it is always a challenge if we can fulfill their expectations…Its however a pleasure to work for this clientele because they challenge you to get better and better all the time…another challenge is the logistics. Because we are working on locations all over the world, logistics can be sometimes complicated, especially because we want to deliver turn key projects…that means my logistic team sometimes faces big challenges to get everything on time at a certain location in the world.
Most of my days the alarm clock goes very early, getting up at 6.00 am, shower, dress and rush to the airport…my head office is in the Netherlands, however most of my business is in Spain, United Kingdom, Switzerland, Russia and Germany…also the States and the Middle East are locations where we work more and more…so I am traveling almost every day to visit the clients and projects…means getting up early, fly, work, and fly back when the project is in Europe…getting in late and hope to still be able to meet my personal trainer for a late workout in my own gym.
I just came back from Moscow last week and we are still doing projects in Russia. I think the Russian taste has developed a lot, Russian people are traveling everywhere and they have a very international taste, at least the clients that we work for…the glitz and glam interiors thank God are getting less and less popular, also with the Russian clients. I think our style metropolitan luxury is very much fitting this period of time. Still luxurious and comfortable, but without showing off..,materials are getting much more natural and using high end products which are very timeless is our vision right now.
We did so many extremely beautiful projects, however a special project where 2 gigantic beach villas on the Island of Phuket, Thailand. To work in this part of the world and get to the level of finishes we are normally used to was an extremely challenging thing, not even to mention the time difference and logistics. However we did provide our client an amazing holiday villa, which he was really happy about, and this was one of the most beautiful projects we ever fit…recently we finished another beach villa in Altea, Spain, build against a cliff, with a 180 degrees sea view…all white, and this is another spectacular project…both of the projects are featured in my books. For me personally Club Jimmy Woo in amsterdam was also a highlight, because it became the most popular club in amsterdam, where I love to go out myself.
My own house of course is totally breathing the metropolitan luxury concept…nice bedrooms with lots of cushions, a tv room with a gigantic tv, a gym and little spa in my bathroom…I like to have the same feeling in my house than in a luxurious 5 star hotel…where all is arranged and you have your spa and gym under 1 roof…that’s what I created in my own house and what we try to create for our clients also…of course you are very much invited…we can workout together (smiling)
Last year my company was 14 years old, and 14 always has been a lucky number for me…I decided to adopt financially 14 children on 14 different locations in the world…my foundation, the Eric Kuster children’s development, is working closely together with SOS children’s villages…this is my way of doing something back to the ones who have less than ourselves..I decided to work with kids, because I don’t have kids myself…I visited some of the kids, and its so amazing how happy they are and great full…the goal is to have 14×14 kids in every city so 154 kids in total…its a pleasure doing this and gives me a lot of joy.
Right now my new sneaker collection just came out, also called fourteen, again my lucky number….they are only available in 14 shops in europe and very limited produced…my sneakers are all handmade and available in 4 colors..red, olive, black and sand…I’m proud that Cristiano Ronaldo was walking on them some weeks ago, we made a special pair for him…I still have another pair waiting for you here…
handsome
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