Jules Toebosch and Sandra Figueira named new godparents of Start it Fashion
Antwerp didn’t become a global fashion capital on pure creative talent alone. Behind the city’s reputation is a serious, deliberate investment in the business side of the industry. To keep that momentum going, Start it @KBC and the City of Antwerp are teaming up once again for Start it Fashion: a free, year-long coaching program designed to help promising founders avoid classic startup pitfalls and survive an increasingly turbulent market.
Each year, two industry veterans step up to guide the incoming cohort. Past editions featured names like Nathalie Vleeschouwer, Tom De Poortere (Essentiel), Lies Mertens, and Anton Janssens (Komono). This year, the program welcomes a new powerhouse pair: Sandra Figueira, IT & Project Operations Manager at Patagonia, and Jules Toebosch, founder of the textile production company Collé Group.
Together, they cover both ends of the founder’s journey: building a brand anchored in deep values, and navigating the gritty, day-to-day operations required to keep it alive.
Two doors into the same room
Sandra’s decision to join Start it Fashion stems naturally from Patagonia’s mission-driven culture, which encourages leaders to share what they’ve learned. After years of driving strategy behind the scenes, stepping into a direct mentorship role felt like the right move: "For the last two or three years, I wanted to step in front of the crowd rather than always staying backstage," Sandra explains.
Raised by entrepreneurs and having run her own business before joining Patagonia, working directly with founders feels like familiar territory.
For Jules, joining the program was a natural step for Collé Group, given its deep roots in the Antwerp fashion ecosystem. While about 90% of Collé’s clients are Belgian, the company exports heavily to the Netherlands and France and recently showcased at a major London trade fair. That kind of international reach is exactly what Jules believes more young Antwerp brands need to target from day one.
What they bring to the table
Rather than handing down rigid instructions, Sandra focuses on building confidence and operational resilience. "I don't know a single entrepreneur who hasn’t doubted themselves. Imposter syndrome is real," she says. "So my first goal is always to empower them."
Alongside that emotional support, she brings two invaluable lessons from her time at Patagonia: shifting toward regenerative business - replacing extractive practices with sustainable models - and building scalable operations. As a company grows, its internal processes need to evolve with it. "How you operate on day one shouldn't be how you operate two or three years in, onceyou've gone through that learning curve," she notes.
Jules provides a pragmatic, forward-looking counterweight to the table. Focusing on helping founders transition from launch mode to long-term viability, he’s seen too many designers pour everything into a stellar debut, only to stall on their second or third season. "A lot of people know how to pull off one collection," Jules points out. "But the second and third require capital, pre-financing, and real planning." For him, tackling those unglamorous, business-heavy questions early on is ultimately what determines whether a brand survives.
Sustainability, quality, and long-term survival
For Sandra, solid mentorship always comes back to core principles: trust, consistency, and a willingness to challenge convention. Rather than pushing founders into a cookie-cutter model, she aims to expand their perspective: "It’s about showing clear, real-world examples of how things can be done differently.”
At Collé Group, sustainable production is baked into the business model. "For us, it's a core USP," Jules explains. "We make it an added value that we proactively bring to brands, backed up by the education they need to make it work."
The takeaway
What makes this year's mentor pairing work so well is how cleanly their skill sets mesh. Sandra offers the strategic, value-led vision of a global brand, while Jules brings the hands-on operational reality of producing, financing, and selling a physical product.
Together, they give the new Start it Fashion cohort access to both sides of the coin: a clear, purpose-driven brand narrative, and the practical blueprint needed to build something that lasts.
