“When you have a talent, use it to make your dream come true, believe in it!”

As we all know, Tiesto constantly shows how good he can succeed not only in the music industry, but in the world of fashion and design. He is surrounded by a team of talented and bright people who help him to create something new in this sphere and today we proudly present the interview with one of them,Rogier van Vliet, passionate Tiesto`s fan and a talented founder of Tiestoshop and Rochdesign, told us his story that has started a long time ago.

How did you start listening to Tiësto`s music and become his fan?

I became a fan back in 1998 when I was 13 years old. There was a big show in a football stadium in my hometown Utrecht called ‘Massive’. 
After that my brother said that I have to listen to music from a guy called Tiësto. So I did, from then till now, the rest is history :-).
I visit a lot of his gigs, especially in the begin time. He started a tour called Tiëstosolo, that ends with a big show (Dutch Dimension) in the Heineken Music Hall 02-02-2002. This evening he was playing a 9 hours (!) solo set, from that time I knew he was going to be bigger than big! The way he performed that night was something magical I can’t explain, his set was phenomenal. In summer time there was one gig I also remember, Impulz outdoor. Another great set, the tent was fully packed so they had to close the gates outside, because everyone want to see Tiësto! When he became world’s number one Dj, it didn’t surprise me at all. At Innercity 2002, another full packed hall in Amsterdam, people went totally nuts on his set. I am so happy that I got to experience all this shows. I can say that 2002 I remember te most. We had a big group of people that came every gig, only for one thing, Tiësto. There will be never ever be a Dj like Tiësto. Also a Funny thing is that I met my wife at a Tiësto gig in Disneyland Paris in 2005, last October I married her! Tiësto is and will be always a part of our life.

How did you start designing particularly for him? What was the situation: did you offer him your works or did Tijs ask you to do something?

Funny thing is that it all starts with a comic draw back in 2002. When I was young I was always drawing and be creative. So I draw him in his ‘flight 643’ airplane. They nailed that draw in the office of his record store ‘Magik’ in Breda. In 2005 I was asked by the fans to design a Tiesto.com  forum book with stories of the Dutch fans. One year later in 2006 we organized a BBQ for his Dutch fans and I designed the invitation for it. Later in 2009 I designed a special t-shirt for his party ‘Tiësto for us by us’, also organized by me and a friend. 1700 people got free tickets, the venue in Amsterdam was free of rate and Tijs was playing a 4 hours set for his diehard fans! A day to remember. After that I designed the ‘Ibiza 2009’ t-shirt and a lot of other things. What I like about the designing with Tijs is that he is on top of everything and always in control of his own brand. He knows exactly what he want, and working with him is a big blessing, and still enjoying it every day!

When did you decide to open your own company?

I decide to open my own company back in 2007. I started in my bedroom with a small iMac. Besides working for Tijs I work for a lot of other company’s in different industries. I never had work in a company because I hate it to make money, with my skills, for someone else that get the credits. When you have a talent, use it to make your dream come true, believe in it!
When I started my company it never feel like work, because being creative has always been my biggest passion since I was a little kid. I told myself that when it ever feels like work, I would stop immediately. In 2014 I started my second ‘company’, Tiëstoshop, no further description is necessary :-).

What kind of design have you already done for Tiësto`s brand?

I’ve done a lot but especially designs for his merchandise. Since 2009 till now I’ve made a lot of t-shirt designs! 🙂
Last year I also had the opportunity to restyle the bird logo. A big honor.
I must say that I’d like to do more, for example album covers, but mostly the management decides these things. 
But I am happy with the Tiëstoshop, 3 passions that came together as one: Tiësto, Design and Fashion!

Do you discuss your works with Tijs or do you come up with all the ideas yourself?

We work as a team, together we come up with new idea’s all the time. We also use the advise of Tijs his styling guy Michael Nash.
We come with ideas, work this out, make samples and presenting it to Tiësto and the management. 

Many fans already enjoy their varsity jacket! I know first it was your present for Tijs? How did you decided to do it for him?

Actually it was not a present but the first item of the new Tiësto merchandise. Tijs came with this idea, and I worked this out. 
I created the first sketches in may 2013. After a lot of sampling we released the jacket in December 2013 in London during his GreaterThan tour.
We got a lot of positive reactions on the jacket and we decide to order 200 pieces. They were sold out fast so we decide to order more.
Till today we sold more than 2200 pieces of this jacket, a big success for the both of us! And there is so much more to come 🙂

Now you are working closely with Tiëstoshop and clothes designed by you are sold worldwide. Do you still work alone or as a team bringing new ideas to the shop?

Well i’m not working closely with Tiëstoshop…I am Tiëstoshop! haha
But I am still working on my own with a large network of specialists, fabrics and other companies.
The greatest thing about working on your own is that you can control everything and always be on top of things.
Nowadays the world is so small because of the internet. You don’t have to be big to think big!

Among your works we saw the new re-designed Tiësto bird. Tell me more, please, about these “bird” designs you have made already. What does this logo mean personally for you? What is your vision of Tiësto`s logo?

The first bird logo was made by someone else. I don’t know exactly the meaning of it but for me it means: Spread your wings, traveling, exploring etcetera. I made the restyling of it, we wanted to keep the bird but with a modern and powerful twist. I’m sorry for the fans who have a tattoo with the old logo 🙂

I am very grateful to all the positive reactions and want to thank all the fans worldwide, without your support there will never be a Tiëstoshop!
Last thing I want to say is that if fans want to share their ideas for the merchandise with us please contact me by Instagram, Facebook or Twitter.

Rochdesign:
http://www.rochdesign.nl
https://twitter.com/rochdesignnl
http://instagram.com/rochdesign/
Tiestoshop:
http://www.tiestoshop.com
https://twitter.com/tiestoshop
https://www.facebook.com/tiestoshop
http://instagram.com/tiestoshop/