In the Studio with Doing Goods

Inspired by a shared love of travel, a passion for collectible curiosities and a love for adventure, Aanyoung Yeh and her partner Jan Swinkels founded Doing Goods with a mission to add a touch of cheer to homes everywhere.

Based in the Netherlands, Doing Goods works in close collaboration with artisans across the world to create their unique collections of home trinkets. Since launch, Yeh and Swinkels have founded and launched their own workshop in India, where their team of artisans handmakes each and every product.

To discover more about their love for all things eclectic, and to hear about the “perfectly imperfect” concept of wabi-sabi, Liberty visited Yeh at Doing Goods’ Dutch headquarters.

How did Doing Goods get started?

Doing Goods was founded by my husband Jan and me. He used to work in finance, in London actually, and I used to work as a kidswear designer. I wish I could tell you that we started with a very carefully thought-through plan, but we didn’t. We just started.

We both have a love for travel, adventure, collecting, vintage, furniture, and textiles. That’s how we started.

The team grew in the Netherlands for our first few years, and after that, we decided to turn all that inspiration into our own design collections. We found a perfect family in India to help us create the products. If you’ve ever visited India, everything is handmade and made with so much passion and love.

What started out as a small workplace from their home is now, ten years later, a big, airy, happy workplace providing work for over 60 families every day. So, you could say that what started out as our biggest adventure has now become our home sweet home in India.

Can you tell us when you decided to make a product—what was the first spark of inspiration?

I think we’ve always had a big love for old things—items with character and memories. At one point, we thought, okay, we have to use all that creativity and inspiration and turn it into our own collections.

I’ve always had a fascination, even as a young girl, for little things. My mother had a cabinet filled with small figurines and miniature perfume bottles. I was just fascinated by them. That’s actually what we do now—we scour flea markets, antique stores—anything that inspires us. Then we turn it into our brass collection, which is really based on antique oddities.

With a great creative team, we transform those into a collection of knobs, hooks, card holders, candle holders, and so on. You could say that the things I loved most as a young girl have now become part of our brand.

How did your workshop in India come about?

On one of our many trips to India, we met this wonderful family. We got to know each other during that trip – they showed us everything that India had to offer.

I’m really intrigued by how things are made. I love all the techniques and how they create things from nothing, with such patience and love. We slowly grew together. I still remember working late nights in their basement, trying to figure things out, because at that time, he still also had a job. I literally spent weeks living there with his family.

That was ten years ago. We went from a workshop in their home to what it is today: a Doing Goods workshop, full of palm trees, in a nice area. A happy workplace for people.

What is it about India that makes it the place for Doing Goods and such a source of inspiration for you?

What India offers is, first of all, a lot of humour, and I think that’s what we try to do with our brand. We create fun-filled collections. India also has a lot of authenticity. The products are made with so much love, patience, and craftsmanship. I think you can only find this kind of making in India. So it really suits Doing Goods.

How does being in the Netherlands inspire you? Does Amsterdam have any influence on the brand?

Amsterdam is a lovely city to live in. But what really makes a difference is the combination of the people in our team here, the creativity, mixed with that old Indian vibe and craftsmanship. Together, it creates a collection that’s authentic, fun, and contemporary. So yes, it definitely impacts what we do.

What did your process look like before Doing Goods?

I’d consider myself somewhere between a designer, stylist, collector, archivist, tourist, but also a homebird. I love travelling just as much as I love being at home in my pyjamas!

Before, I worked in fashion as a kidswear designer. I worked quite similarly, always keeping my eyes open for things that spark joy. We work very intuitively. If we find something that makes our hearts jump, it’s good—we buy it and start working on it.

What’s the most exciting place you’ve visited for inspiration—besides India?

I’ve seen a lot of the world. In my previous job, I travelled a lot - to Japan, the United States, South America. I can’t name just one place. But in every country, I find something, part of the culture or an item that I love.

All of that gathers in your head, like a backpack you carry from your travels. You create a library in your head. Then you start combining all these techniques and creativity.

My parents are from Hong Kong, so I grew up in two cultures. That mix of cultures is in my blood, I think.

Can you tell us about the idea of wabi-sabi?

It means imperfect, quirky flaws. I love those two words together.

Everything we do is meant to be like that. Our “Loony Leopard” rug, for example, is perfectly imperfect. It’s stuffed by hand, so each one is different. Every eye is different. The same goes for our block-printed textiles and our brass items.

Everything in our collection is meant to be perfectly imperfect.