STRIPE ATTRACTION: Daan Kolthoff, complete with beret and Breton shirt.
Think of a Breton striped shirt and many would picture a stereotypical image of a Frenchman wearing a beret, a cigarette dangling from his lips, a glass of red wine in his hand and a baguette under his arm.
However, Daan Kolthoff's Breton Project reveals that this simple shirt has had an enormous history and has been worn by everyone from soldiers to prostitutes.
Kolthoff keeps a blog that explores the origins and history of this humble piece of clothing.
With his Beret Project growing to an unexpected success with more than 20,000 visitors from 110 countries, Kolthoff knew there was a group of people interested in timeless fashion, and so he started the Breton Project.
"I decided to run this project because the Breton shirt is a timeless piece of fashion, an icon of the arts and film world, and I believe there are many people who share this fascination," he said.
While Kolthoff was working in medical emergency aid in Azerbaijan, Georgia and Chechnya, he saw Bretons worn by the military and civilians, and managed to buy some.
He now imports them on a small scale from a factory in the Ukraine to sell on southpacificberets.com, for enthusiasts and as alternatives to the extremely expensive French-made ones.
"It was an eye-opener for me to find these shirts widely used in the former Soviet Union," he said.
Through the beret and now the Breton project, Kolthoff has (virtually) met many interesting people, from Maori kaumatua and film directors to scientists and writers.The Breton blog is at iseastripes.blogspot.com/
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