Kristin Maurer from Amsterdam initially developed mud leather pants for her own children. The business idea came to her from the high demand from friends and acquaintances. After a series of prototypes and years of literal sandpit testing, it began selling in 2012.

The pre-owned Snekkerbuks

Even after three years of wearing, the sturdy lederhosen are usually still in very good condition and that's how she got the idea "Pre-owned" Snekkerbuks. This means that used pants can be returned to the online shop for a refund.

Later, the very beautiful leather backpacks made of the same leather were added as another product. The bags can also be returned in the sense of "pre-owned" trousers.

"I love quality, it really gives me joy to wear clothes that are so well made that they stay beautiful even when you wear them day-in and day-out.” (christine)

We asked Kristin Maurer our three questions.

What was your motivation behind Snekkerbuk's Lederhosen?

I sewed the first Snekkerbuks dungarees for my one-year-old daughter out of sheer necessity: Ireen should be able to play outside freely and undisturbed in any weather, without getting wet, without sweating. After we were constantly asked about the pants, I decided that more children should benefit from them and have developed the pants further. Many prototypes later (which were extensively tested by friends of ours) today's Snekkerbuks came into existence. A pair of trousers that children can live in. Robust, soft, handmade and indestructible. Ireen wore her first Snekkerbuks for more than 2 years, during that time I never had to wash or repair the pants, while all the other baby things kept breaking or getting too small. After Ireen really didn't fit in my pants anymore, she was still in such good condition that I passed her on to friends. For me, that is sustainability. Such a well-made piece of clothing that can be worn and passed on by many generations of children - and above all: it just keeps getting cooler by wearing it. In order to make the Snekkerbuks webshop itself (and not just the products) sustainable, there is now also the concept of “pre-owned” Snekkerbuks in the shop: worn trousers and backpacks can be returned to us for a refund of 50% of the purchase price . The returned products are thoroughly checked, cleaned and, if necessary, repaired by us and then offered again in the web shop as “preowned” Snekkerbuks.

What can you do specifically for a better future?

Spend time and energy raising your own children. For me, the inner security and stability of children is the future, the mainstay of everything that happens later. That's the most important thing I can do now.

How do travel and sustainability fit together for you?

I travel very little. I can still remember every detail of the two big trips I made in my life, both more than 20 years ago. In that sense, they were very sustainable, in the literal sense of the word. When traveling with children, you don't have to travel far. Children's world is small. 30 kilometers is sometimes enough, and the world looks completely different!

You can find more information about Snekkerbuks products here