During my 4-year-long life burn-out, I was couch-bound for 1,5 years. As there was little I could do, my friend taught me the blanket stitch, which was the beginning of Floof Couture. My traumatized pup Tofu has been the inspiration for the bed design; she was rescued from a Romanian kill-shelter and we can only guess what horrors she went through in her 4 months there. She was always building nests out of my bed, wanted to have something around her, not covering her, and was often times far too scared of the outside world. I needed something with fluffy 'walls' that I could easily bring along when we went outside. The first time we tried out the bed, it was a big success. We went to the skatepark and I put Tofu's bed there. She would hop in and absorb her surroundings. If she felt brave enough, she would get out, play a bit and hop in again when she felt overwhelmed.
We tried it out the first time with the bed at the skatepark. Tofu could hop in and out whenever she wishes and it was a big success.
A world opened up as I always had such a passion for beautiful textiles and the stories behind them. I knew I wanted to add a cultural aspect, I wanted everything to be vegan and sustainable. I did a lot of research into textiles. They needed to be firm and machine washable. The quality needed to last. Faux fur is the only fluffy, soft fabric that sufficed. I started buying one meter per time, as I was just one person and still recovering from my burn-out. And this has always been the way I work; when I earn some money, I invest in pretty textiles. Beautiful canvasses from Thailand, kilims from Turkey, batiks from Ghana, ikat from Guatemala and Uzbekistan, and illustrations printed on organic canvas from Berlin. It became quite a collection, I'm too passionate to think commercial when I see beauty.
As my burn-out was also caused by an anxiety disorder and PTSD, I always felt happy that I could help Tofu with hers, but what about us humans and our anxiety? Pretty soon I would receive orders for children, many autistic, with add or sensory disorders. I never dared to think it would benefit people too. The most popular request remained, however, the adult human size...
I made the first official Floof for people when I just heard my mom would lose her life to cancer. She was in treatment for 7 months and it was always a race against time. The cancer was so aggressive that her treatment was too and every time she had had chemotherapy, cancer fought through after two days. Emergency surgery, blood transfusions, and a lot of radiotherapies didn't do enough and destroyed everything in her body, for us to find out that nothing helped and 2,5 weeks later she would pass. We needed some comfort and distraction, so I made us a first version for when we were with my mom, comforting her where we could.
They became an immediate success. I received messages and reviews from autistic people, people with add, anxiety, PTSD, sleep disorders, and chronic pain, everyone seemed to benefit from the Floofs for people! People who didn't sleep would have 'amazing naps'. What an amazing and grateful journey. My dearest wish has always been to help, animals, people, wherever and whatever. For animals, this means donating beds and money to organizations in Romania, Spain, the USA, really everyone asking. To keep them as accessible as possible for people, however, I decided to make a Floof for people tutorial video. And that is where we are about now.
Tofu in the dog bed
Tofu in the dog bed
The first Floof for people
