Porfot offers a carefully curated mix of workwear, streetwear and contemporary fashion

10-03-2025

Nieuwe Binnenweg has recently opened on the Nieuwe Binnenweg. A boutique with a carefully curated mix of workwear, streetwear and contemporary fashion. The name was inspired by the lyrics of Rotterdam rap formation DuvelDuvel. So hip-hop is a key element for Dustin Kraay's venture. On 29 March, renowned DJ Cutnice will come to sell vinyl, followed by a vinyl-only hip-hop night at Café Hensepeter from 19.00.

Owner Dustin Kraay will be familiar to many as an employee of Woei. ''I worked at Woei for 15 years. At 16, I first entered it as an adolescent and was immediately obsessed. Not much later I managed to talk myself in and eventually, together with a small team, I helped build the best trainer shop in Rotterdam and far beyond. Still, I always had a little boyhood dream of opening my own boutique one day. However, Woei felt like a warm bath, so that plan took a while to materialise. But now, at 35, I felt it was not only time, but even necessary to take the step.''

As a former employee of Woei, Dustin knows a lot about trainers. But that is not what he offers with Porfot. ''For the past 17 years, I wore trainers intensively. The last 15 years even as a kind of work uniform. But after I turned 30, I noticed that I actually started wearing dress shoes more often in my free time. It started with a pair of Prada leather brogues that I impulsively bought and immediately fell in love with. I had worn out hundreds of trainers in the years before, but these shoes gave me a completely different feeling. Something I had never experienced with trainers before. From then on, my interest shifted more and more towards timeless, artisanal and sustainable products.''

He continues: ''You can also see this change in my shop. The range consists of a carefully curated mix of workwear, military surplus, terrace culture, suits, streetwear and contemporary fashion. It is a collection for people who are more sophisticated and consciously choose timeless quality over trends. Moreover, the supply of this kind of product is surprisingly scarce in Rotterdam, which gave me extra motivation to start Porfot!''

Consequently, the range also includes brands that cannot otherwise be found in Rotterdam. ''Take Bonne Suits for example. I knew they had no official external outlets, but was convinced I could represent the brand in a full-fledged way. I was even willing to send a handwritten love letter to convince them of this. Fortunately, that was not necessary. During an exhibition at their shop, I casually asked about it. Soon a nice conversation ensued. Coincidentally, they were just planning to start wholesale and were looking for an outlet in Rotterdam. There was an instant click, and not long afterwards I was proud to call myself an official Bonne Suits retailer.''

''At NPS Solovair, the brand that once produced the original Dr Martens, I simply sent an email. A kind of semi-love letter. There, too, they were immediately enthusiastic. Of course it helps that I have a lot of experience and passion for the business, but to be honest, it still surprises me that I am the only one in the Netherlands allowed to sell this brand.''

DuvelDuvel on the Nieuwe Binnenweg

Porfot is street slang for Rotterdam. It appears frequently in the lyrics of Rotterdam rappers including cult group DuvelDuvel. ''I have a pretty broad music taste, but Dutch hip-hop will forever have a special place in my heart.'' In that category, Rotterdam rap formation DuvelDuvel is in my top three. Their music boosted my vocabulary considerably at the time, or enriched it. It's just how you look at it. Porfot is a word that immediately grabbed me. The sound, the composition of the letters, the number of letters, but especially the meaning. Rotterdam is a bad city, but our bad city. It immediately felt like the perfect name for my shop. So perfect, in fact, that I had it tattooed on my belly in cow letters years ago. So I didn't have to think about it for long.''

The choice to set up shop at Nieuwe Binnenweg 207A was not difficult either. 'For me, the street is Rotterdam in a nutshell. I wouldn't be surprised if all those "more than 170" nationalities walk by here every day. From junkies and dealers to tenants and landlords, from helicopter mums to street thugs. Really everything and everyone passes by here. But above all: Rotterdammers. This is also reflected in the entrepreneurs who are here. Large chains dominate the city centre, but it is the small, independent businesses that give the city character. That's why the Nieuwe Binnenweg felt like the only logical place for Porfot.''