The Brand

mumutane designs unique, graphic and colorful home accessories in high quality. The products are combined with African wax print textiles, bought locally in smaller textile stores in Africa, as well as surplus textiles from the Danish, international company, Kvadrat. The aim is to create 'product with purpose', and therefore mumutane has a sustainable approach in several aspects of the company's processes and with a special focus on minimizing textile waste and the products are produced in collaboration with one of Denmark's largest social economy companies. The name mumutane means 'we the people', and the philosophy is that we collaborate across cultures and national borders to create better conditions for more people. mumutane - nordic design african tradition is inspired by the minimalistic nordic aesthetics and the vibrant african expression. The African wax print textiles contain many symbols and stories about life in Africa, and this gives each product a unique story. The cultural fusion thus adds a personal design experience to any modern home.

Aesthetics

mumutane unites the Nordic design tradition and the African textile tradition in an unconventional and cool combination. With mumutane's brand and products, we focus on the fact that Africa has a lot to offer that we in the Nordics have not yet opened our eyes to. This is done through well-designed, versatile and functional products inspired by Africa to create warm, lively and personal expressions - both as interior design and fashion accessories.

Social Impact

mumutane is a brand with something at heart. We believe that Africa can and wants more. We believe that the best way to create development is to give people work and thus a financial basis to support themselves and their families. We call it giving work. All the cushions are produced in collaboration with one of Denmark's largest social economic enterprises, Huset Venture in Kolding, which aims to create work for people with reduced working capacity. In addition, we have a small production of accessories at a local tailor in Nigeria, run by mother and daughter. Here they make a point of educating young women in the sewing process and regularly take in trainees. In addition, they have 3 employees.

Mission Statement

Mumutane value integrity and commitment, and strive to always provide customers with excellent service and high quality home decor for their home interiors, through an innovative process which has a sustainable approach in terms of using deadstock material as well as a social impact production process.

Mumutane’s objective is to create better work conditions for people in underserved areas in West Africa and Denmark. Our special focus is on colourful home decor which gives a unique, personal expression in Scandinavian homes, and at the same time has a meaningful impact and purpose for people throughout the value chain and teach end-consumers about everyday life in Africa.

Core values

Integrity

We build our brand and reputation through our customers perception and trust in Mumutane based on our promises and actions.

Quality

We intensely work on creating the best products, service excellence and cooperative teamwork.

Commitment

We are responsible and respectful to each other in both our physical and digital environment, act fair and ethically in our business, and never engage in bribery or corruption.

Quality We purchase textiles from West Africa, mainly Nigeria. We spend a long time finding the right suppliers to ensure the right quality. It is important for us to know our business partners and ensure that they receive a fair and honest financial gain for their work and cooperation with us. We select the textiles with care so that we get the right quality and the right design expression. We have, among other things, made washing tests on everything to understand what the textiles can hold up to, how they look after washing, and whether the color rubs off. That is why we also know that all textiles can be washed at 30° and the color will last. We recommend washing separately by hand. Name The name mumutane is a contraction of two words 'mu mutane'. It is from the tribal language Hausa, which is spoken by a third of everyone in Nigeria, and means 'we the people'.

The philosophy behind mumutane is that we humans collaborate and create opportunities for each other across cultures and national borders and create better conditions for more people.

The Founder of mumutane: Maria

Behind mumutane stands Maria, who founded the company, which forms a very good basis for creating an interesting brand with something at heart. Maria Kastrup Lausten, Cand. merc with specialization in Marketing from Business & Social Sciences, Aarhus University.

"I am educated in the retail industry with a focus on textiles, trends and fashion. In this connection, I became particularly interested in working methodically to create good customer experiences, digitally as well as in the physical space. In addition to the fashion industry, I have also worked in the furniture industry. Subsequently, I studied further and took a bachelor's degree in Business Economics and Sustainability, as well as a master's degree in Marketing at Business and Social Sciences at Aarhus University. After a few years in a large international company, I could feel that my old dream of becoming independent was really stirring. The idea of ​​creating something from scratch and building something that creates value for others was sufficiently enticing that I dared to take the leap. In my family, over many years we have built up quite a few relationships and connections with Africa - especially Nigeria. It has been an important source of inspiration for creating mumutane, which is a dream and ambition to create a brand within interiors and lifestyle that connects the African tradition of colors, patterns and prints with the Nordic design and fashion tradition.

I believe that in the meeting between different cultures, new interesting expressions and imprints arise, which create lots of joy and value. The fact that we also have a strong ambition to create jobs and thus better living conditions in Africa is not just a bonus, but a fundamental value at mumutane, which we also hope our customers appreciate."

A new chapter

In June 2024 a new chapter of mumutane was opened. Eva Kaiser, Founder and owner of the German sustainable brand Lumikello took over Marias heartblood project. Learn more about this in our magazine.