As founder of the Dutch interior brand Fair Fabrics, Karin leads several (inter)national teams of artisans and specialists. The social enterprise was founded in 2011 and is therefore an early adapter of a current generation of innovative and purpose-driven enterprises. With Fair Fabrics she builds bridges between designers, brands and international artisan workshops through traditional crafts and contemporary design. With transparent and direct collaborations, she and her team develop a distinctive and respectful collection of interior items such as rugs, blankets and cushions.
She personally travels to her partner artisan workshops to develop new, unique products together and, if desired, takes her customers with her. This not only increases the reach of the artisan workshops on the international market, it also brings knowledge and insights from the west to the artisan groups. This acts as a catalyst for younger generations in preserving traditional crafts and women’s empowerment and independence.
Meanwhile, the number of designers who know how to find her in their search for an honest and transparent way of developing together at the cutting edge of craft and design is growing.
In addition, she regularly gives guest lectures on social entrepreneurship to students and workshops to international artisans in different countries. With this, she can also ensure development in a different way with the help of design thinking and achieve a greater reach on the international market. She recently started a 2nd international label Safa Tableware with, among others, a Tunisian entrepreneur to be able to make even more impact in specific areas within the artisanal profession.
She was a participant in the Social Entrepreneur Exchange and Development in the Euro-Mediterranean Region (SEED EURO-MED) project as an entrepreneur of the exchange program and made a substantive contribution to a 3-day boot camp. Karin was also a speaker at the project closure in the presence of the project initiator, the European Commission.
