During their Bachelor's thesis, the two travelled to Nairobi to get to know the situation surrounding used clothing exports from Europe. On site, they saw how enormous quantities of unused clothing end up in rivers and landscapes and how heavily synthetic textiles pollute the environment. These experiences strengthened their resolve to develop solutions that have a real impact.
With WM Studio, the two design upcycled products from rescued textiles. One of the first collections was created in collaboration with Africa Collect Textiles in Kenya, where unique bags were made from old corduroy trousers. At the same time, imparting textile knowledge is particularly important to them. To this end, they organise workshops and educational formats in Europe and Kenya. In Nairobi, children wove their own pencil cases from old textiles, while in Turkey they organised a crochet upcycling workshop. Their aim is to raise awareness of the responsible use of textiles.
Charlotte and Ramona have already received several awards, including the Wilhelm Lorch Prize and participation in the Federal Ecodesign Award exhibition. They are being supported on their journey by HNX, where they have been able to take advantage of workshops, coaching and a strong network to further develop their project. Both also benefit from the EXIST Women programme, which specifically sponsors female founders at The Hochschule Niederrhein.
We are delighted to be able to accompany them on their journey and are excited to see how WM Studio will continue to change the textile world.
