Made for More Than a Season
- vor 3 Tagen
- 4 Min. Lesezeit
Quality, care, and the new value of everyday design
Objects first show wear where the body meets them again and again: at the heel of a shoe, along the edge of a sole, and at the flex point where the same movement repeats thousands of times. A bag changes at the handle, the corners, and around the fastening, where fingers return to the same stretch of leather day after day. This kind of daily wear shaped our conversation with Catherine Meuter and Stefan Mathys, founders of the Swiss brand VYN, whose work begins with one of the most heavily used parts of a shoe: the heel.
VYN has developed a modular system that allows the heel to be replaced, the look refreshed, and the sneaker’s life extended. The brand draws on more than two decades of experience in footwear development, from construction and leather to soles, proportions, and the wear that comes with everyday use. Their concept of Long Luxe gives that practical idea a broader frame: objects used regularly, carefully maintained, and made to hold their value beyond a single season. From that precise part of the shoe, the story extends to bag handles, jacket seams, belts, travel pieces, and the things people carry, wear, and fold into daily life.
For Catherine Meuter, design begins with decisions made long before the final form: the choice of material, the way elements are joined, the stitching, the metal, the relationship between leather and textiles, the construction of the heel, and the possibility of later replacing or servicing the part that wears fastest. “Today, when designing new objects, we have to consider the entire life cycle,” she says. Customers later sense those decisions in the surface, the weight, the fastening, the stability, and the way an object holds up over time.
Capsule wardrobes, pre-loved pieces, and rental markets all rely on the same premise: a piece must stand up to years of real use. In an object worn for years, the true price is measured in the seam that holds, the leather that can be renewed, the part that can be replaced, and the form that keeps returning to use. With natural materials, especially leather, ageing enters the surface itself. Leather softens, gains depth, absorbs care, and changes through touch, light, humidity, and the rhythm of wear. “The traces of time are small records of lived experience,” says Catherine.
Stefan Mathys distinguishes between objects made for immediate effect and those that become evergreen pieces over time. The former depend on visibility, impact, and a quick response, while the latter remain relevant across seasons, years, and ways of living. “Function and form should be designed so that their value in use increases each time they are worn,” he says.
For him, longevity is tied to the relationship between price and what an object gives back over years of use. At a time of rising prices, customers are choosing more carefully, often turning to a smaller number of pieces they can wear, maintain, and keep for years. A new object still has to earn its place in daily life, as the shoe adapts to the foot, the jacket takes shape through wear, and the material gathers the marks of regular use. A well-worn piece, thinned at the points of movement and perfectly comfortable, can be worth more to its owner than something new that has not yet settled into use. Material has to suit the part of the product that carries the strain. In a sneaker, that means durability at the heel, the right structure for the upper, comfort inside the shoe, and an understanding of how the foot moves. Material chosen without that understanding soon begins to look tired, however attractive the original form may be.
For both of them, trends have a limited reach. They shift through colour, detail, proportion, and the impulse of the moment, while lasting objects draw on archetypes and clear function. Catherine speaks of forms that attract people across longer periods, and of cycles in which the same need returns in a new expression. Stefan describes the current landscape as one of short clips, fast drops, and images that disappear almost as quickly as they arrive. Desire, colour, experiment, and playfulness remain part of fashion, but a lasting form has to perform its basic task with ease. A knife is judged by its cut. A shoe, by the way it feels in motion. A bag, by the way it carries weight and sits with the body.
“Without quality, there is no longevity.”
Catherine Meuter
Service, replaceable parts, and renewal now sit alongside material and construction. At VYN, that approach takes concrete form in the modular heel: it can be replaced, and the sneaker continues to be worn. From footwear, the conversation moves towards bags, jackets, and pieces people want to keep, because every object made to last needs a way to be cared for, repaired, or renewed. Stefan connects repair with the perfect pair of jeans, a softened cashmere jumper, and a jacket patched at the elbows. “Repair is a chance to create something new.” A new detail or a renewed surface adds another chapter to an object.
“We have to consume less in the long term and take care of what we already have,” says Catherine. “Less is only more when it is better and brings us joy.” That joy decides what stays in the wardrobe: a piece that fits well, makes the day easier, feels effortless to wear, and can be renewed without a sense of loss. Stefan connects the value of an everyday object with comfort, confidence, and freedom of movement. Clothes, shoes, and accessories shape the way a person enters a room, stands, walks, speaks, and travels.
For Stefan, a truly well-considered object should give us “joy and personality” and, above all, “the ease of showing ourselves as we feel.”
This article is part of AH Magazine Issue No. 7.
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