About Me

My studio is my favourite setting, a genuine treasure trove filled with inspiration. Step into my studio and you will be surrounded by souvenirs, rubble, artifacts and photos from trips all around the world. Places where I discovered new techniques and fellow creators.

During my studies at the AKI, the Academy of fine Arts and Design in Enschede, I was introduced to many different disciplines and applications within the domain of art and design. In the first year program we explored not only all the departments within the academy, but even more importantly; our own talent. This process made me realise I had a clear preference for design. After joining the Graphic Design department for a couple of years, I started to join classes within the Fashion Department. When I became familiar with pattern design, all my interests came together. I had found my focus and graduated within this specialization in 1979.

In that same year, Alke de Kroes and I founded Studio BonBon. Our first collection – garments made with our printed textiles – was shown during the AKI fashion show of 1979. After finishing the art academy, we set up our printing studio with a 12 meter long screen printing table. From 1982 to 1988 we exploited a printing workshop with a 30 meter long printing table. During this period, we worked with small fashion businesses and interior stores, and making our fabric available in small lengths was innovative, and very popular. The printing workshop was sold in 1988.

From the late eighties on, making patterns on paper (dessins) for interior design usage and teaching fashion, textile and arts became more and more my priority. Always eager to learn new techniques, I developed skills in felting, printing on silk, and weaving. Over the years I took part in many workshops, ranging from the Japanese Katazome technique to advanced weaving. This newly gained knowledge has made it possible for me to start my own collection of handmade scarves. For me, the human contact between the wearer of my scarf and the fabric itself is very important. The person wearing my scarf adds the last dimension to my work; when worn, the person wearing my scarf is surrounded by it, changing the pattern. My work can not be any closer than that.

I proudly passed on Studio BonBon to my daughter Teuntje Kranenborg in 2018. As a recent Rietveld Academy textile graduate, she has relaunched the studio during her graduation project:

“In 2018 I relaunched studio bonbon during the graduation show in the pavilion of the Gerrit Rietveld Academy. My aim is to extend bonbon’s function from only textile prints to a cross disciplinary creative studio: From designing textile and furniture to initiating workshops, becoming a temporary store and working on an ongoing archival collection.” – Teuntje Kranenborg, studio bonbon

Since 2018, I present myself using the name Studio Christine van der Heide.

I like to share my love for textiles with you and hope to inspire.