Who is Mies?
Who is Mies?
Mies is the nickname of Michelle de Boer, who originally started out as an art director and designer. After 15 years of working at various design and advertising agencies in Amsterdam, she began to miss hands-on creative work, just like back in art school.
In the summer of 2017, shortly after the birth of her second child, she had an idea. She found many baby and children’s products rather dull and wanted to bring more colour into them. So she thought: why not do something fun, buy a watercolour pad and start painting animals! It turned out to be a brilliant move. Her first watercolour painting was sold quickly, and many more followed.
The first webshop
Mies then opened a webshop on Etsy and Bol. She started by selling watercolour paintings of animals, but personalised children’s plates and mugs were soon added to the collection. During COVID, her business really took off, as the Christmas cards with sweet forest animals on Bol became a huge hit.
Soon after, sustainable textile collections for baby essentials followed, including muslin cloths, sleeping bags and baby blankets, as well as her own webshop. Today, World of Mies offers a full range of baby & kids essentials, wall decor, stationery, and has also made a start with baby clothing.
The shop
In 2022, Mies opened her first shop in De Hallen, Amsterdam, and it certainly won’t be the only one! Her mission with World of Mies is to make the world more colourful and more sustainable by showing people and children the beauty of nature, while producing responsibly.
The personal character and handmade touch remain incredibly important, even as the company grows. Customers in the shop often say how special they find it that all the designs are hand-painted, and that is what makes World of Mies unique.
The future
Mies wants to keep creating timeless and cheerful designs with animal prints that go beyond the seasons. Babies and children will always be drawn to animals, and nature is an endless source of inspiration.
Mies is still available as a freelance art director and designer for online campaign concepts and designs, social media strategy and content, print work and brand identities.
You can find her advertising portfolio HERE