About us: How the story of No(N)s began and where is it taking us.
ABOUT THE COMPANY
Tige Tikker OÜ ("The Angry (or Wicked) Gooseberry" in Estonian), the company behind No(N)s, has been involved in researching and recreating historical, as well as modern clothing and footwear since 2005. True, the historical side has prevailed. Both theory and practice of clothing history has given us a good basis and knowledge about what has been worn, how it’s been made and what kind of impact has all that had on people. All of this has led us to a conviction that not all fashionable design solutions are (nor have been) very useful or good for the people wearing them. And to another conviction that the solutions, ideas, and methods that have survived the past, combined with the newest knowledge and traditional skills, can lead to remarkably good results. And this is what we strive for - taking old classics into modern settings, using quality materials and skilled workmanship to offer what is best for feet.
Who are we?
The creator of Tige Tikker and No(N)s is Katrin Koch-Maasing. She is a theoretician and a practitioner that has a BA in Fashion Design and a MA in Art History, and a 5th generation artisan (that lineage includes at least 2 generations of shoemakers) that has spent the last two decades researching, recreating, popularising and teaching the history and making of historical clothing and footwear. A true fan of beautiful, quality, fitting, comfortable, practical and sustainable clothing and footwear.
ABOUT THE "BIRTH" OF NO(N)S
"I have always loved high quality things. My grandfather used to say: "I am not rich enough to buy cheap stuff". As nature has blessed me with both height and foot size, I have always struggled with finding good-fitting clothing, especially footwear. I discovered quite early on that relying solely on shops is futile and thus I have always worn quite a lot of handmade clothing and footwear. But you still desire to sometimes just go and...shop. But finding the right one - right brand, manufacturer, maker - is not easy. I have been sewing since I was three years old, but I took up making footwear in adulthood, specializing mainly, but not solely on historical footwear. It started as a hobby but became a passion and eventually a profession. And when I discovered barefoot shoes several years ago, it dawned on me that this is what I have been looking for, always. That this is the solution for my tender feet that really dislike heels, cheap artificial materials and shoes that cramp and cripple the toes. And then I discovered that finding the footwear that would fulfil all my demands is harder than what I expected. So that is how after a couple of years of planning and preparations, No(N)s was born..."
Katrin Koch-Maasing
HOW DO WE DO IT?
Our system is very simple - Katrin designs (and checks that the result corresponds to expectations) and our good partner Samelin manufactures.
Samelin is a purely Estonian company with a century-long history and Estonian stockholders. In 1945, four small companies in Tartu were merged into one: „Tulevik“, „Koondis“, „Ühendus“ and „Ühisvara“ became Naha- ja Jalatsikombinaat (NJK) (loose translation - The Combined Factory of Leather and Footwear). NJK became especially well-known when in the 1980s it was the first factory in Estonia to start producing sports footwear. In 1990-1994 it bore the name of RAS Elkar. Since 1994 the factory is known by its current name AS Samelin, as it was privatized into the new company by the employees of RAS Elkar. Since then it has made tens of thousands of pairs of footwear, both under their own name and as a subcontractor to different designers, companies, organizations.