Loop Earplugs’ Maarten Bodewes On Balenciaga Drama And New ‘Switch 2’

Loop Earplugs is redefining the style of earplugs—upgrading foam for something way more stylish.

First founded in Antwerp in 2016, it was made by concert music-lovers who know what it is like to get tinnitus, and wanted an earplug that was “protection, comfort and style,” said Maarten Bodewes, the brand’s CEO, who-founded the brand with Dimitri O.

The brand has sold over 10 million pairs of earplugs and are an ever-growing accessory for those who may love music festivals, cinemas, and traveling, but want to block out the noise. It caters to Gen Z, with 1.1 billion young people at risk of hearing loss, according to the World Health Organization. DJs like Nostalgix, Ameme, DJ Hato, and Mandy are known for wearing the brand.

“Our mission is to empower people to choose how they hear the world,” said Bodewes. “We want to do with our earplugs is give them more control over the sound around them.”

High fashion is taking notes, too. Last month, they made a splash on social media after being imitated by Balenciaga in their “piercing earplugs,” which strike a strong resemblance to Loop Earplugs (they responded with a meme, not a lawsuit).

“Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery,” said Bodewes: “I think it just shows that we’ve been able to make hearing protection and earplugs a part of culture, something desirable, something sexy. And we just had a good laugh about it on social media.”

Today, Loop Earplugs is releasing Switch 2, their latest earplug. It’s an updated version of Switch, an earplug that has three manual volume settings (Quiet, Engage and Experience).

Switch 2 design has a slimmer design and hypoallergenic silicone ear tips, designed with the help of user feedback. The earplugs are manual, with a switch to lock in or out of the Quiet Mode setting, which filters all noise, or the Engage Mode and Experience Mode, so users can have full control over their sound environment. Switch 2 comes in black, green, gold and silver, and sells for $59.95.

There is an upgrade in the design. “It’s way more elegant, slicker,” said Bodewes. “So we had to miniaturize all the springs, the filters, the components that are in there to make it fit.” There is also a clicking system that adjusts the mode. “When you have it in your ear, it’s easy to switch.” The settings have also been fine-tuned.

“If you’re at a music festival, and you’re very close to the speakers, you turn it into Quiet Mode,” he said. “If you’re a bit further away, you turn it into Experience Mode. If you’re at the bar, you switch it to Engage Mode.”

The campaign for Switch 2 was shot by photographer Marie Wynants, an acclaimed photographer who has worked with major fashion brands like Ann Demeulemeester, Cartier, Chanel, Louis Vuitton and Gucci. “We love that fun, playful vibe, because we’re trying to turn something boring into something exciting with earplugs,” he said.

Loop Earplugs, which has offices in New York City and San Francisco, is the US market, which takes roughly 50 percent of their sales, followed by the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia.

Next up, they are working on collaborations in the luxury fashion space, as well as the motor sports space, which will be announced in the coming months. They’re also in talks with DJs at festivals like Tomorrowland which need to control acoustic sounds while being onstage.

“We’re going to be creating products that are still super stylish, but they’re going to give more control to people where you can automatically adjust the noise level based on where you are,” he said.

“Earplugs are still not as accepted as sunglasses, so how do we do collaborations with brand leaders to create awareness around hearing protection and show that it's something that can be cool and protects your ears?” he asks.

“Whether that's on the sound side, but also on the comfort side, we're doing really cool things with materials, maybe even custom molds that are also going to come to market somewhere next year,” said Bodewes.