Behind the Brand with Cam Cam Copenhagen

At Pip and Sox, we love the gorgeous creations of Danish brand, Cam Cam Copenhagen. So, when the chance arose to chat with the label’s talented Creative Director, Sara Giese Camre, we took it.

Discussing life as a business owner, her inspiration, and all things Cam Cam, Sara shared her wonderful story with us.

For those who aren’t familiar with Cam Cam Copenhagen, the label creates high-quality, timeless and tactile designs for children. Each piece is inspired by Japanese patterns and French refinement, combined with beautiful Scandinavian minimalism. The result is a blend of sweet romance and graphic simplicity that is carried through the label’s collection of bedding, bags, dolls’ accessories, children’s mobiles, and more.

Created with the belief that babies and children deserve only the best, Cam Cam Copenhagen’s designs aim to achieve calm and harmonious environments for little ones. They’re also made with a sustainable focus, which shines through with organic textiles and enduring design and material quality.

Are you a Maker, Creator, Mover or Shaker?

I am the creator of Cam Cam Copenhagen. I am originally an architect, so my force is to design and organise.

 

How did your business start?

It started on my last maternity leave, where I was a little tired of my job in a large architectural office and wanted to make a change. I always knew that I wanted my own business at some point and I just had the time to stop and think and make plans, because I had a year off (and our baby girl was sleeping a lot!)

 

 

Tell us a little bit about what makes Cam Cam Copenhagen unique. What keeps customers coming back?

I think it’s the high quality of our products and the unique, timeless design at an affordable price.

 

What is the best part about running your own business?

I run it with my husband, and I have to say the freedom is the best thing. We have flexibility in our everyday life that we never had before. If one of the kids is ill, we can stay at home without getting stressed about it. We work a lot less than when we were both architects, which has got to be one of the toughest businesses around.

 

 

What is the biggest challenge you face with running your own business?

Well, we have to do everything ourselves. We have to find out how to get the products tested and approved and initially we had to find out how to get a certified organic production up and running. We can’t tap into a large cooperation’s knowledge of how to do everything and the routine of ‘We usually do it like this…’.

 

Who or what inspires you?

Lots of impressions inspire me, including films, travelling, and novels.

 

 

What lessons have you learnt over the year?

As a designer? Oh, lots of things! I’ve learned to kill my darlings for one, which is a very important characteristic, as a designer. You might think you have a great idea, but they’re not all equally great, you just have to face that.

I’ve also learnt that you can’t control everything and there can be several great outcomes. Especially now that we have ten employees, I have learnt to let go of many tasks and accept that even though I wouldn’t have written this or that specific text in a newsletter, it could be alright, and at least it got done on time.

I have learnt to entrust more responsibility to our employees with great results, both because I’m not an expert on everything (like sales, export, finance, customer service and bookkeeping, just to name a few) and also because I was close to crashing with stress a couple of years ago when I did everything myself.

 

Where to next for your business?

Next step is making furniture for the little ones and entering the US market.

 

 

What did you want to be when you grew up?

My first dream before the age of 10 was to be an inventor. From the age of 10, I wanted to be a designer – fashion or product designer.

 

Tea or Coffee?

Tea, always green or white tea. I don’t drink coffee at all, never have.

 

 

Favourite holiday destination?

Oh, that’s hard. For a romantic holiday with my husband, Paris wins. We’ve been there so many times, and the city always has something new to offer and always baffles us with its beauty. For a holiday with kids, our best holidays have been to Greece. Just going out to some remote, relaxed island for a couple of weeks; it works for kids of all ages.

 

Who is your favourite girl boss and why?

That would probably be the Danish architect Dorte Mandrup, who is incredibly talented and has built her own architectural office alone and from scratch and has been very successful for the last 20 years. She is a person of great integrity with values I can identify with, such as sustainable building, and a sympathetic woman and single mum at the same time.

 

 

Shop Pip and Sox’s range of Cam Cam Copenhagen here.