01. Where it began

It’s strange that I ended up creating something in fashion. I never liked fashion. Even though I loved design, fashion always felt disposable, impractical and built on exploiting our human insecurities — the constant push to buy more, to look desirable, to fit in.

But I’ve always been obsessed with design itself: the intersection of form and function, the pursuit of something timeless and effortless. As a kid I sketched cars; at uni, chairs; and somehow I ended up in software design — arguably the most invisible and underappreciated kind. Good software works best when you barely notice it. Nobody walks around telling you about the beautiful software they bought. So how does this connect to fashion? Like most good stories: serendipity.

In the early 2000s a friend went to Hong Kong and brought me back a belt. Simple, clever — but it eventually fell apart, as most things do. Years later I tried to replace it and discovered the market was a wasteland: cheap, flimsy, over-branded, or wildly expensive. Interchangeable belts existed, but they relied on moving parts that failed quickly. I realised a belt could be beautiful, functional, and built to last a lifetime. So I decided to design that, YOKU was born.

02. Why we made it

I took 3D design lessons, quickly realised I needed real expertise, and — through another lucky connection — met Mark, an industrial designer who shared my belief that great design takes time and patience. Together we created that space. We imagined a belt as an objet d’art: engineered to work like magic, crafted to outlast its owner, and meaningful not for what it “signals” but for what it supports — people’s strengths, their aspirations, their desire to be better.

In a finite world, people want to choose well, choose less often and reduce the resources their lives consume. Making something beautiful and durable isn’t just an aesthetic choice — it’s a responsibility. YOKU is our attempt to honour that.

03. What we believe

The duality of beautiful, functional design with durability is only 2 of the 3 things required to make good design, truly, world changing great. You also need Affordability. Most textbooks will tell you that making things affordable means making them cheap and that people don’t desire things that are cheap. The truth is that people desire things that make them feel rich. That makes them feel powerful. That makes them feel right.

In a world of finite resources, if what you really care about is sustainability then your success depends on how many people buy your product and stop buying the shitty, disposable alternative they do already.

YOKU is designed to be the most beautiful, well made, longest lasting and versatile belt in the world. There are around 300 million belts sold every year and most last no longer than a few years. The overwhelming majority are made under a cyclical fashion model that prioritises repeat purchase over long term ownership, margin over impact and trends over values. YOKU exists to put a dent in that number and to do that means selling millions of belts, to millions of people which means not only making a product they value but actually making it affordable

We want to make a product that doesn't cost too much. Not so people will be able to buy a lot of it, but so a lot of people will be able to buy it. 

I like to think YOKU isn’t a fashion product but a fashion idea: “one less thing.” A belt for people who value beautiful, sustainable design — for everyone.

Vincent Turner, Founder