At Karel & Co we strive to empower women and families, while simultaneously honoring the earth. Instead of being made in factories - which is often the case - every Karel & Co animal is stitched into existence with love and care by one of the ladies we know personally. Through this, we provide an alternative to the mass production of stuffed animals. 

We made a deliberate choice to work with women in India, because working with women is often a catalyst for change. Studies show that women invest 90% of their income back into their families (education, food, health care, etc.), while for men this is (in general) 35%. This means that women can bring change to their children’s lives and communities way quicker than men. So by buying a Karel, you’re supporting a mother to build a future, not only for herself, but also for her kids and her community. 

Every animal is hand-made and therefore has its own unique colors, patterns and facial expression. We’re co-creating the animals with amazing partners who share our vision on ethics, equality and sustainability. You can read more on this on our ‘partners’ page. 

All Karel & Co animals are made out of typical Indian Ikat fabric, linen, and a cotton filling. We work with as many leftover materials as possible. The Ikat used in the animals is leftover fabric from clothing productions. This means you could potentially come across a dress or a jacket that matches your cuddly friend. 

The Ikat is dyed and woven by families living in Hyderabad and South India, while the linen is naturally dyed by families living around Varanasi. Our partner organization is in close contact with the families working on the materials, and they are ensuring the quality of the dyes and the process. The cotton filling is bought locally in Jodhpur, Rajasthan. Each animal is gifted to you in a little bag. These bags are made by Saheli Women out of leftover saris - the typical clothing Indian women wear.

Every animal is handmade and therefore has its own unique colors, patterns, and facial expression. The linen and Ikat are dyed with natural materials, such as walnut, alkanet root, or sappan wood. Using natural materials means all our toys are free of harmful components. Working with leftover materials means that we cannot guarantee the exact same color or fabric in the creations of our animals. 

The animals are filled with a combination of cotton and polyester. We don’t know the exact ratio between the cotton and polyester and are working to improve on this front. Ideally by working with natural materials (such as wool, kapok, or cotton), but until now we’re not happy enough with the quality of this type of natural filling (we’ve experimented a lot), and we’ve decided we’d rather work with sustainable animals that last a lifetime than use a natural fiber that shrinks or clumps together (for example, after washing). We are still developing on this front (tips are welcome!), and a next step would be to make sure that the material used for filling is recycled.

We hope a Karel is a timeless gift that a little - or not so little - one enjoys for a lifetime. We put a lot of time and effort into the creation of the animals, in order for them to last for a long time. Furthermore, we do not work with small orders, seasonal collections, or sales. This is because we believe there is a fair price for all the work and love that has been put into the creation of one animal. Additionally, we think that it is important not to stimulate overconsumption. The little profit that we make with Karel & Co is used to invest in the development of future collections and pay artisans, such as photographers, we are working with. At the moment Karel & Co runs solely on voluntary basis by Jen and Lou (and lots of family, friends and members of our little community helping out when we need a hand).

Although Karel & Co has come into being to bring joy and do good, we’re not perfect. There are still quite some sustainability areas we would like to further improve. At the moment, Karel and his friends are still being flown from India to the Netherlands by plane. This is the case because our partner does not ship by boat yet. Obviously, we would love to ship our animals by boat instead of by plane and decrease our carbon emissions as much as possible. Something we’re working on! Furthermore - as mentioned - we cannot trace the exact production chain of the filling yet. We’re trying to find an Indian partner that can provide recycled filling to make sure this contributes to the well-being of people and the planet as well. In the future, we hope to publish an impact report in order to share more on the above mentioned topics.