Our story
How it started
Karel & Co came into being out of the childish love for soft animals of sisters Jen and Lou. Growing up in Nuenen, a small town in the South of the Netherlands Jen and Lou both had quite a huge collection of stuffed animals. Lou was always most fan of ‘Noot’ her squirrel, while Jen loved ‘Donsje’ a baby eagle. Whenever it was vacation time, we were allowed to bring three animals with us, which obviously didn’t fit well with our intentions to bring our whole animal family along. Thus, we turned it into a sport to hide as many animals in the car or in the caravan when we went camping. Luckily, most of the time we succeeded, and mom was never really angry, as she loved the stuffed animals as well. The love for animals never really went away. While it started with Noot and Donsje, many non-traditional animals followed, whalefish (a walrus), muis (a mouse) and let’s not forget the all-time favorite wurm (a caterpillar).
India
During a trip to India Jen and Lou fell in love with its colors, beauty, and people. They got to know amazing women who shared their stories, thereby learning firsthand about the value of economic independence and a steady income. At the same time it also became visible what the lack of job opportunities could do to families: difficulties earning money led to a lack of food, housing, health care and education. A little girl named Ziya really changed something. Without job opportunities or income for her mom and aunt, Ziya would probably never go to school and have the same chances as Jen and Lou once had as little girls. At the same time, the people we met like Ziya and her family, are wealthy in a different sense: they take care of each other and have a strong sense of community as engrained in the Indian culture. We decided to turn things around: what if we could support Indian women and families in a structural manner by providing job opportunities? A seed was planted and the idea of empowering families (combined with our love for animals) was created.
Ethical animals
The animals we’re creating have to contribute to a world as we would like to see it: uplifting women and local communities, celebrating artisanal craft, while honoring the planet. Therefore we’re co-creating our animals with a local female-led social enterprise, and working with left-over and natural materials. In doing so we’re providing a high-quality alternative for the mass-production of soft animals. A Karel & Co is not a common soft animal you buy at the store around the corner. It’s an animal we’re a lot of time and love has been put into, by the incredible women who weave them into existence. And, for the little (and not so little) ones, we hope a Karel & Co is a friend for life. Join us in making a difference - one soft animal at a time.