Two years ago, Mette Egeberg Nielsen and Sussi Lyngholm Heide launched the children’s clothing brand Fliink. Although the two founders come with solid experience from the fashion industry, they have had to start from scratch and acquire new skills.
Mette Egeberg Nielsen and Sussi Lyngholm Heide are the founders behind the children’s clothing brand Fliink, driven by a desire to create, achieve results, and build relationships.
“We have always had a strong urge to create and find great joy in making things happen and seeing them develop,” says Mette Egeberg Nielsen, who handles design, product development, and purchasing at Fliink.
After many years in women’s fashion, they were both curious to explore new branches of the industry, which led to the choice of children’s clothing. Fliink launched on September 30, 2022, embodying a Scandinavian design tradition with sustainable styles combined with humor and commercial design. The journey with Fliink has not been without challenges. One of the biggest has been starting over in a part of the industry they were unfamiliar with:
“Realising that we did not know anything about anything has been a challenge on one hand, but also an exciting process. It has required an acceptance of learning everything from scratch again,” says Sussi Lyngholm Heide, who is responsible for sales and e-commerce at Fliink. The two founders know each other from their time at Teko, where they connected on the Buying line.
A desire to do things better
The design process at Fliink primarily takes place in Denmark from their office just outside Aarhus. They create four annual collections, drawing inspiration from nature, street scenes and history.
“We always try to keep the child in focus – even when determining qualities, which we strive to be both functional, sustainable and comfortable for the child to wear. At the same time, we love to combine the cleaner lines with humor and surprising details,” says Mette Egeberg Nielsen.
Responsibility is a key value for Fliink in all aspects of their work:
“We want to do things better in different ways. For us, sustainability is an unavoidable mindset that plays into so many levels. From the fiber level – how we produce and how we reduce energy and water consumption – to thinking about our products in a longer lifecycle, such as unisex production and multifunctionality. This mindset occupies us a lot and has been constant since the beginning,” elaborates Mette Egeberg Nielsen.
Difficult market for a new brand
Experiences from previous jobs have given the two founders a strong network and industry knowledge, which has been useful in the start-up of Fliink. Hard work, cold canvassing and influencer marketing have also been important factors in spreading awareness of the young brand. Fliink has been well received by retail stores both in Denmark and internationally, and especially the collaboration with retailers has been crucial to their success:
“We launched Fliink at a difficult time with war and great economic uncertainty. Fortunately, we have a really good collaboration with our retailers, who, despite a challenging market, have supported and helped us along the way. We are overwhelmed by the reception, but it has also been a tough time to launch a new brand,” says Sussi Lyngholm Heide, supplemented by Mette Egeberg Nielsen:
“Right now, we are focusing on strengthening our existing relationships and increasing awareness of Fliink at home and abroad. We look forward with optimism and are excited about the projects ahead of us.”
