A Day in Amsterdam

I first met MIMI ET TOI designer and founder Mimi van Dijk around six years ago, when she introduced me to her beautiful jewellery collection over breakfast. I was buying for my stores Cove. Island Essentials in Bali and I instantly fell in love with the brand, but I also became friends with Mimi, and behind this brand is a woman whose world feels just as inspiring as the jewellery she creates.

Mimi founded the Amsterdam-based label in 2009 after years spent travelling, collecting inspiration and making jewellery for herself along the way. When she returned home to Amsterdam, she created a brand that felt deeply personal with pieces designed to be layered, lived in and treasured for years.

Her collections draw inspiration from art, travel, architecture and nature, balancing softness with strength in a way that feels both feminine and modern. Pearls have become something of a signature for the brand, inspired by memories of her grandmother’s pearl necklaces, while raw stones, crystals and organic shapes reflect her love of imperfect beauty and authenticity. What I love most about Mimi is that there’s always emotion behind what she does. Over the years she has spoken openly about wanting to build “a beautiful life” for herself and her son, and you can feel that sense of independence, creativity and resilience woven through the entire brand. It never feels overly polished or untouchable. There’s warmth, soul and personality in everything she creates.

We did this interview through voice notes and long phone conversations, and I found her honesty incredibly inspiring. She didn’t start the label because she dreamed of becoming a designer. She started it after a separation, as a way to channel creativity and create a life for herself and her son while earning an income doing something she genuinely loved. That rawness and authenticity still sits at the heart of the brand today.

While Mimi still travels often, with Paris being one of her greatest sources of inspiration - Amsterdam is very much the soul of the label. Today, MIMI ET TOI is stocked across Europe and has been featured in publications including Vogue, Elle, Marie Claire and Harper’s Bazaar, yet it still feels intimate and deeply personal - much like the gorgeous Mimi herself.

Amsterdam, According to Mimi
Mimi lives in a charming pocket of Amsterdam South just beyond the bustle of the city centre. The neighbourhood has a calm, local feeling where life moves at a slower pace beneath leafy streets lined with old bakeries, cafés, wine bars, tiny boutiques and long-standing family-run stores. There’s a familiarity to the area that feels authentic and old school, and almost village like, despite being so near the heart of the city. Mimi lives near her local coffee shop, the Coffee Company and it’s where she meets her friends nearly every morning and talks about life, love and friendship. She feels connected alongside lifelong friends and her community.

Some of Mimi’s favourite things to do are simple, meeting friends for coffee or long lunches, wandering vintage markets, riding her bike through the city, Pilates, escaping to the beach, watching Netflix at home after a busy week, or jumping on a train to Paris for inspiration. As she says, as you grow older, there’s something very special about a quieter life.

On Saturday mornings, she loves riding her bike across the city to wander through De Negen Straatjes “The Nine Streets” which is tucked within the historic Jordaan district. The area is full of narrow canals, old Dutch buildings, independent galleries, vintage stores, cosy cafés and little hidden corners that feel untouched by time. It’s an area uniquely Amsterdam, where you can spend hours without plans. One of her favourite spots there is the restaurant Libertine, where she meets friends for a wine and lunch after wandering the canals and markets.

Another place she loves escaping to on weekends is Ubuntu Beach, a relaxed beach club just outside Amsterdam in Zandvoort. With its rustic seaside atmosphere, great food, cocktails and ocean air, it gives her the feeling of being on a little holiday without travelling too far from home.

Paris also plays a huge role in Mimi’s creative world. Just a four-hour train ride from Amsterdam, it’s somewhere she returns to often for inspiration and to visit her French lover. She loves walking the streets, watching people pass by from cafés, admiring the architecture and soaking up the understated elegance of French style. That effortless Parisian way of dressing which is classic, understated and just slightly undone. This has always influenced both her personal style and the spirit of her jewellery.