Our Story
Beginnings
The CARE BY ME brand was founded in 2012 by Danish designer, Camilla Gullits. It was her goal to produce a line of clothing and home goods that would be developed in a socially responsible manner at the same time as helping women in developing countries.
Camilla was educated at The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, Schools of Architecture, Design and Conservation. After having had her own consultancy agency for several years, Camilla decided to get back to her design roots – and to help others. Today, Camilla is the Creative Director at CARE BY ME.
At inception, CARE BY ME received assistance from the Danish government, utilizing their Danidaprogramme. After meeting stringent criteria, the government of Denmark provides support to companies like CARE BY ME that are doing business in developing countries and that have a special focus on women and gender equality.
In 2017, Camilla invited Pernille Pold to join CARE BY ME, as a Partner and Commercial Director. Pernille’s extensive international experience with EVA Solo A/S has helped her to establish CARE BY ME internationally. CARE BY ME has developed a solid foothold in the European markets and has recently launched in Asia, South Pacific and the Americas.
Our Goals
CARE BY ME wishes to provide unique and sustainable products to the world by combining the craftsmanship of handmade textiles in developing countries with Nordic design, excellent production methods, high quality and extraordinary materials.
The style embraces Nordic minimalism, created by Danish designer Camilla Gullits. Classic and timeless - embodying comfort in colors that reflect nature.
By doing this we aim to make long lasting products that our customers will love - forever.
The UN’s global compact principles provide our leading star and The Global Organic Textile Standards (GOTS) establishes our ethical benchmark.
Why Nepal?
In Nepal, people have always worked with textile. Handmade textile is a large part of the national economy. The materials come from cashmere goats and sheep and are either knitted or woven in the area around Kathmandu. This is where CARE BY ME cooperates with small workshops that use these materials and teach women the ancient crafts.
In Kathmandu, electricity is limited and sporadically available, which is why the CARE BY ME products are produced either on manual hand-knitting machines or on needles by hand. We only use electricity to do the linking of garments. All knitted products from Nepal are certified handmade.
The focus is on empowering women, helping them to secure their future. With this knowledge, they can feed their families, ensure their children’s education, and provide a safe life.
Cotton from India
CARE BY ME produces our GOTS certified organic cotton in India. Our partner in India is both GOTS and Fairtrade certified. Whereas, in Nepal we are primarily focused on the social and financial sustainability aspect of production, we have included environmental sustainability in India as well.
Handmade & Heart made
Take a journey to our workshops in Nepal with us:
Echoes of our Earth
The CARE BY ME vision is based on the UN’s Global Compact Principles.
“The Ten Principles of the UN Global Compact - Corporate sustainability starts with a company’s value system and a principles-based approach to doing business. This means operating in ways that, at a minimum, meet fundamental responsibilities in the areas of human rights, labor, environment and anti-corruption. Responsible businesses enact the same values and principles wherever they have a presence and know that good practices in one area do not offset harm in another. By incorporating the Ten Principles of the UN Global Compact into strategies, policies and procedures, and establishing a culture of integrity, companies are not only upholding their basic responsibilities to people and planet, but also setting the stage for long-term success.”
(https://www.unglobalcompact.org/what-is-gc/mission/principles)
We use these principles to select the initiatives that we embrace each year, in order to continuously diminish our environmental and social footprint as a brand.
By wrapping our yearly initiatives into a concept, we furthermore hope to inspire others to lead a more sustainable lifestyle.
- CARE BY ME launched our first GOTS certified collection in January 2019.
We launched a collection of soft interior products in 100% organic cotton – all are GOTS certified.
- We introduced a small collection of care products to help minimize the harmful use of resources when cleaning your garments and home goods. Soap Nuts and Dryer Balls are a fantastic concept and we endorse their use, however, we have chosen to discontinue offering them in our line as their wide availability now renders our product less sustainable. Others can bring these items to the marketplace in a much more sustainable manner. This awareness of the part we play in our markets is also key to our core ethos.
- New color shades of earthy tones are combined with the grey tones from our Nordic roots. The result is balanced, calm and embracing.
- Periodic updates to our products through different structures and materials keeps our brand fresh while supporting our timelessness mandate. Our designs are often available for many seasons, sometimes with small changes to the color. Conversely, if they fail to thrive in the marketplace, they are not renewed. Why waste resources when they are so precious?
CARE BY ME is a company owned and operated by women designing exclusive products to embrace people in our part of the world, at the same time as they empower women in developing countries. We wish to inspire women all over the world to embrace themselves and each other.
We believe the new luxury can be sustainable, and very much attainable...with a conscience.
Handmade & Heart made
Join us on our journey!
🌱 care for people and planet 🌱
