40 Years of Le Nouveau Chef
At first glance, it may seem like a simple story. But those who truly know Le Nouveau Chef, understand that its origins are shaped by intuition, elegance and courage, just like the chef jackets that made the brand renowned.
It all began with Robert ten Hoope, shaped by the refined taste of his mother and the entrepreneurial mindset of his father. His mother had the eye of a couturier: precise, uncompromising, and always attentive to detail. His father was a strategist and a sharp marketer who knew how to turn an idea into reality. What Robert saw was this: style isn’t something you wear, it’s something you express.
The charm of detail
Robert ten Hoope never followed the rules. Long before Le Nouveau Chef became a brand, he worked with the flair of a designer and the persistence of a salesman. He travelled across the country with stacks of table linen, knocking on the doors of restaurants from Texel to Maastricht.
His approach was different and creative. Instead of showing fabric samples, he presented them as if they were menus like a fine dining experience. From the beginning, he demonstrated that experience came first. Every detail mattered. Not because it had to, but because it made sense.
That attention evolved into a vision. One day, he met a female chef whose jacket didn’t fit her at all. Just like his mother in the 1950s, she was forced to wear ready-made garments that didn’t adapt to her form. Robert tailored a chef jacket for her. That moment marked the birth of Le Nouveau Chef, not as a brand, but as a solution.
What followed was a stream of new ideas: lighter fabrics, refined compositions, fits designed for real chefs. Tailored performance for the kitchen. Above all, garments that made chefs feel seen and respected.
"A good chef jacket is like a good knife. You need to trust it."
– Robert ten Hoope, Founder Le Nouveau Chef
Bound by craftsmanship
What sets Le Nouveau Chef apart is the sense of family woven into every seam. Robert didn’t build a client base, he built a family. He didn’t dress chefs for today, but for their future.
Chefs like Cas Spijkers, Maartje Boudeling, Jonnie Boer and Sergio Herman wore Le Nouveau Chef long before they were famous. Robert recognised talent, not status. And that feeling, being truly seen, still lives on in every design and in every interaction with the people who wear our garments. Le Nouveau Chef became more than a label. It became a signature, visible in every stitch and felt in every connection. Whether it’s a five-star hotel or a student chef in training, the relationship is personal and the standard remains high.
Robert noticed trends, but rarely followed them. He worked with fabrics no one else dared to use at the time, like flame-retardant blends, Modal, or lightweight polycotton. He designed chef jackets with fabric weighing just 210 g/m², long before ‘lightweight’ became a norm, a detail that makes a difference every single day.
A new generation
When Madelon ten Hoope and Paul van Luipen joined the company, Robert stepped aside. He called it "the right decision, when decisions are made by heart, there’s often truth in them.” Just like he had always done with chefs, he now gave the next generation the stage. Le Nouveau Chef shifted focus to deepening the brand’s fashion identity, giving style a greater role. Not to impress, but to help chefs express who they are. Paul and Madelon brought clarity and directed the spotlight even more towards chefs as individuals with a story.
Today, 40 years later, Le Nouveau Chef remains true to its beginnings. To the table where it all started. To the people who wear it. And to the legacy of its founder, who never saw style as the goal, but as the means.
Le Nouveau Chef was born from a need for more care, personal style and warmth. It showed that good design starts by listening. That style begins with respect. And that the real revolutions live in the details no one sees, but everyone feels.
Forty years on, this is still present in every fibre, in every fit, and in the subtle ‘H’ on the shoulder: a badge of honour every chef wears with pride and a lasting tribute to our founder.
