There’s an enlightened idea at the base of Ellen de Clerq’s web shop: interchangeable covers for lampshades.
Can you tell us a little about yourself?
“I am 38 years old, mother of three, wife of a wonderful hard working man. In my day-to-day life I am mainly working on Cozette*: making lamps, following up on orders, preparing for trade shows, blogging, keeping the site up to date, there are so many aspects to running a web shop. I studied to be a sociologist, I even worked at the university as a researcher for a while, but it bored me to tears. Up until three years ago I worked as a coordinator in after school child care. When there was a problem with the after school child care for my own kids, we decided that I’d take a career break. The children were growing up and I got more time to do the things that had been sitting gathering dust on my to-do list for far too long.
How did you come up with the concept of interchangeable covers?
“I came up with the idea when I decided to try and make something different as a present of a friend’s newborn son. She is also into sewing and has a very specific, beautiful style. So I thought I’d make a lampshade and if she didn’t like it, she could change the cover.”
On your site you write that you prefer to keep things small-scale. Does that mean you you’d say no to other shops wanting to sell your lampshades for you?
“I have had that request a few times. But up until now I haven’t taken anyone up on that. It’s hard to keep a balance between staying small-scale and maintaining profitability. You’re out in a market where ‘handmade’ doesn’t have any added value anymore. But it has been a conscious decision to keep producing the covers myself. Having them made in some foreign country doesn’t add any value for me and it would mean a totally different kind of company and interpretation for Cozette*.”
So what’s with the little star behind the name?
“The little star refers to a light shining, and secretly it also refers to my mum (she died in 2003) who taught me the joy of handicraft/sewing.”
http://cozette.be/