By Ed Avis
Jelle van der Zwet, Jasper Castelein and Guus Bakker, three buddies from the Netherlands, were backpacking through Vietnam in 2010 when they noticed a roll of orange cloth in a tailor shop. Orange is the national color of the Netherlands, and that country’s soccer team was playing in the upcoming World Cup, so the three friends got the idea to order suits made with that cloth.
The founders, from left to right: Jasper Castelein, Guus Bakker, Jelle van der Zwet.
The tailor obliged and soon the men were the envy of the other tourists around town. A light bulb went off – crazy colored suits could be a business! They ordered 500 of the orange suits and had them shipped to the Netherlands. They sold briskly, and in 2012 they officially launched OppoSuits.
“That’s what started the ball rolling,” says Jafeth Vermeij, account manager of Oppo Merchandise Group, which is the company name now. “The orange suit became the company’s first SKU, and it’s still in stock.”
From that initial orange suit has grown a company that offers a broad line of garments, including countless suits, tuxedos, blazers, shirts, sweaters, ties and other garments for men, women and children. The unifying characteristics of all of the company’s products are highly creative designs and quality materials and construction.
Consider these fun examples: The Discoballer, which looks exactly like someone unfolded a disco ball and sewed a suit from it; the Mr. Tie Dye, which is, you guessed it, a suit that looks like it was tie dyed; and Confetteroni, covered with brightly colored dots.
The company also acquires licenses, which facilitates suits such as Super Mario, Pac-Man and South Park, all adorned with those familiar characters. In some cases, though, the licenses are for reproductions of suits worn by characters themselves – Beetlejuice or the Joker, for example.
But the company also offers more chill suits, such as the Midnight Black Velvet tuxedo and the Lavish Lavender suit.
Christmas sweaters are also big sellers, and many of the suits are promoted as prom-wear.
“We also have a new category we recently added, onesies,” Vermeij says. “They are fashionable and good quality, and many are licensed.”
Among the licensed onesies, which are available in adult and children sizes, are Pikachu, Elmo, Cookie Monster and Sonic the Hedgehog.
The company – which is now called Oppo Merchandise Group because of its expanded product line – designs all of its products in-house.
“Our creative department keeps busy with staying on trend, renewing licenses, getting the new licenses for movies coming out, designing the new products, those kinds of things,” Vermeij says. “And then company-wide, we all grade the designs and see which designs are actually want to produce. And we ask that to customers as well, ‘Do you think this would work or do you think this would work?’ And then we take that all in account and then decide what we're launching for Christmas and for Halloween, and then develop sampling, see how that works. We end up with a couple of styles per season.”
Vermeji says retailers sometimes devote a section of display space specifically for a line of OppoSuits, but that’s not necessary. And the company does not have an MOQ, so a store can try out a few designs without committing to a big order.
“We are very open to questions and try to help retailers with anything they need to showcase our products well,” he says. “We want to serve all of them as well as possible.”
The company, which joined the NCA as a Vendor Member in January, is participating in the Buyer’s Group and offers members a 5% discount off wholesale. Click here to see the entire Buyer’s Group and learn more. Also, the company is planning a pre-order sale in the first quarter of 2026; NCA members will receive an email about this.
Vermeji says an NCA member who wants to carry OppoSuits products for the first time will probably want to start with some of their best sellers (see the images below and click here to download an Excel file with a selection). The latest OppoSuits and Suitmeister (another brand of theirs) catalogs are available on the NCA Member Portal; they are the top two items in the Resources page. Click here to log in.
