Mays Modecollege

Private lesson for Luuk Ikink

For years, I have watched with respect and admiration the floral shirts of Patrick Lodiers. Each time a different specimen, floral and processed with an algorithm in prints that only people from the same family can understand. Where did he find them? And did they actually exist with short sleeves? I thought that the short sleeve only belonged to male caravan drivers. Although the latter are usually found in check patterns. If you get bored on the highway on your way to the French south, you should play the game ‘find the checked and short-sleeved caravan driver’. Before you know it, you're sipping rosé by the pool, time flies that fast.

Anyway. Patrick is not on TV as often anymore and seeks his fortune on the radio (which is a shame because I love my former classmate Patrick), but heaven be praised for Luuk Ikink. Luuk, you offer me a new object of wonder.

You might think: I'm going on TV, so I'll wear a nice suit. That lumberjack shirt is saved for the weekend and your after hours. And maybe you consider tucking your shirt into your pants instead of letting it hang out and you cautiously play with the idea of finishing it off with a nice, masculine belt. Going the extra mile in the name of fashion. And showbiz. People are all looking at you anyway. So it's nice that they see that you've really made an effort.

But none of that. Luuk is Luuk is Luuk. What you see is what you get, and when it comes to taste and style, that's not much. You are a connoisseur of checked shirts and possess the unparalleled talent to find a matching T-shirt every time in yet another clay color. Impressive. Your shirt hangs over your pants anyway, and no, you didn't have time to button it up. Moreover, you seem to infect everyone around you with the Luuk-Ikink-checked-blouse virus. Because suddenly it seems that all your Boulevard brothers are rummaging through your closet for inspiration. Is your motto sometimes: ‘just go checked, then you're already crazy enough’? Even the always well-groomed and so charmingly transformed Marc van der Linden recently left his pocket square at home and sat next to Ronald Molendijk (another style icon) with a sagging blouse (also open and over the pants) who had found the same suit in his dressing room. It was darn Peter van der Vorst who still brought a bit of style to the broadcast.

Dear Luuk. I could pull you through the funnel and transform you into a Dior Homme icon. Or completely Rick Owens. Or maybe Gucci. You can handle it. You have the size for it, after all. Yet I fear it is too late. People wouldn't believe you. Then there's only one thing to do. Keep wearing it. No matter what people say. Hang in there. You managed it with your glasses, so that blouse will come through. Go for it!