I (Natalia) had only just given birth to my second child when the pandemic hit. I was looking for a local, sustainable bedding company that made crib sheets and stood for more than just profits. To my surprise, I couldn't find a great match, so I set out with my close friend Daria (a mother of two) to make our very own product: Dreams Jumper's first and most coveted product, the pure linen crib sheet.
(Daria) From the interior decor perspective, more of my clients were asking for eco-friendly alternatives for home textiles. At the same time, they did not want to compromise on aesthetics and product quality. It was pretty challenging to find linens that could satisfy all the needs. When Natalia asked me to join her in creating Dreams Jumper, I had no doubt it was the beginning of a new and exciting chapter in our lives.
We sought to build a brand that would become a tool for social and environmental change. Because of technological breakthroughs, businesses are uniquely positioned to make a significant difference in the physical, structural, and cultural environments we work in today. We, as a company, are dedicated to embracing the role we can play in creating a healthier planet. As individuals, we adore linen for its countless benefits for sleep, the earth, and creating the most stylish look that makes you feel one with your home. After creating our first baby sheet, we saw the market's potential and wanted to offer more beautiful and eco-friendly textile products for our homes.
How specifically does it relate to sustainable design, production, and/or consumption?
At our core are the grounding principles of how we wish to view the future of the world, from thread to sew and workshops to consumers. We try to consider every little aspect of the process. Reuse, efficient resource utilization, robust design, and a shift in approaches oriented toward sustainability are all important tactics in the fight against environmental ruin and ensuring that we close the loop.
Currently, our core product is linen bedding. Linen is the most sustainable bedding fabric and the most hypoallergenic, dirt-repellent, and antibacterial material available in the home textile landscape. It only gets better and softer with each wash, increasing usage and lowering consumption.
At Dreams Jumper, only high-quality, natural fibers and fabrics make the cut. We work closely with our suppliers and factories in Europe to ensure the exceedingly high standards of our products are maintained, including ethical compensation for those that make them.
Our accessory lines are made in a zero-waste environment in our Ontario facility. This means we turn every off-cut, cutting-room waste fabric or unsold item into a new beautiful piece for you to enjoy. We concentrate on efficient product design and pattern cutting procedures, intending to save 90-100 percent of the fabric.
We are a proud member of the 1% for the Planet organization and are constantly exploring other options to become more environmentally conscious.
We ship all our products by sea to minimize the environmental footprint. Reimagining supply chains and micromanaging each step in the production and packaging process helps us reduce our overall carbon emissions. We keep to the triple bottom line- pampering our customers with the products they will love by being socially responsible and protecting our use of the planet's resources.
What community or customer behaviors are you hoping to create or reinforce?
With every product we create, we try to encourage thoughtful consumption. We ask our customers to think through the whole lifecycle of how they will use our products daily and care for the products. It's not just about purchasing sustainable products but also about thinking through the end of life of every product you own and taking active steps to ensure that it doesn't get into the landfills. We believe the future is circular. The only true path to sustainable living is minimal living and reduced consumption, and we can achieve this only through recycling and reuse, so we won't need to produce more.
But it's not enough to tell people to buy less. They need to know less of what? In our opinion, it's less unloved, unwanted, price-motivated purchases that do you and the planet no good. Instead, we believe the ideal way would be thoughtful purchases that really matter and last for decades.
With our extended line of kids' bedding, we want to make a statement about teaching our kids to love quality products, know how a good fabric feels, and how a good blanket wears. We want to set an example of how we personally buy thoughtfully, invest in the pieces we bring home, and value quality over quantity. Because the future is not just ours, it is theirs too.
What is one of the most helpful or enlightening lessons you've learned along the way?
Oh, I love this question! One of the most enlightening things we learned is that you can only truly thrive with the product you love. Yes, market analysis is essential, and the data should not be overlooked, but the 'heart' of your product is what matters the most. Get 100% ready and in love with your product before you launch, don't waste too much time on minor adjustments but also don't compromise on your vision, design, and quality for the sake of getting the product to the market sooner. Enjoy the process, be curious, discover new materials and systems, make new friends, be inventive, and ask questions. Your brand becomes one of the most significant parts of your life, but you still have your family, friends, and people you love, and you want all of it to be in balance. And it is so much easier to balance everything when you work with the products you truly are passionate about.
One other thing - don't try to please everyone and don't expect that everyone will love what you do or create. Product-based businesses need to be very clear on their target audience, who they are speaking to, and what message they want to discuss. And we say 'discuss' and not 'broadcast' because we think dialogue is important, we value and appreciate our customers' opinions, and we love our conversations with our community. Often, our conversations start with simple at-home care questions and expand to larger, more meaningful conversations.
What's the biggest problem you're currently trying to solve?
Our biggest goal and biggest challenge right now is to create and produce our products in Canada. Everything from a thread to cut & sew to packaging. It is impossible to compare the textile industry in Canada to the one in Europe, and, of course, it poses some challenges. We have to reconsider the materials we work with and our whole bedding line, but we truly believe this is the right move.
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