What makes starting a business as twins so special?
Dear Anne Grabs asked us in her podcast what sustainability means to us. In the podcast we talk about the opportunities it offers to produce sustainably and the decisions we made when we founded the company.
"In the summer of 2013, when the “gym bag generation” strolled through Mauerpark, Caroline-Marine and Valérie invented an alternative - the duffel bag. Inspired by her grandfather, Caroline had chosen it for years as the ideal travel companion and sewed it for herself and her family. This one Prototypes and Caroline's intensive study of all the duffel bags in the world laid the foundation for her own creation.
In addition to their full-time jobs, the twin sisters were working on the perfect colors for the duffel bag in their shared apartment 6 years ago, which was supposed to be a beautiful, timeless, practical, hard-wearing and, above all, sustainably produced travel companion from the start. The search for a rust tone finally led her to a beautiful peach tone, which, among many other shades, is her bestseller “Sac Marin Nude” became.
Your label Marin et Marine was born, even though they always knew that they would one day start a business together. Because their “products” were created in their early childhood and on the summer holidays they spent on the beaches in France, in their father's workshop or on their mother's sewing machine. In these experiments they learned a lot about original handcraft, about good and durable materials and about careful workmanship, which still characterizes their work and product developments.
In the interview we talk about what it means to found a label that is sustainable right from the start. They talk openly about the consequences of more cost-intensive production. It is extremely important to Caroline and Valerie to produce long-lasting quality products and to ensure fair payment and short delivery routes. The Duffel bags and backpacks are produced in southern Germany, the cotton comes from German weaving mills, even the eyelets come from German manufacturers. The Leather bags are manufactured in Berlin-Kreuzberg exclusively from industrial overproduction and are purely vegetable tanned (chrome and chemical-free).
Of course, you would like to become vegan at some point, but have not yet found an alternative that guarantees the longevity of the leather bags. Nevertheless, they are always looking for alternatives.
At the same time, sustainable production also offers many opportunities, for example producing in small runs and releasing limited editions.
We also talk about the fact that sustainable production also offers many opportunities, for example producing in small runs and releasing limited editions.
I found it particularly exciting that they shared how they overcame the fear of failure that they faced repeatedly over the 6 years. They share the three takeaways they learned."
- Don't compare yourself
- Meditations against fear
- Trust your own intuition
You can also listen and subscribe to the podcast directly on iTunes or Spotify .
