People who follow Ellen on Instagram have probably seen her appear already, a beauty with long blonde hair and excellent taste. I’m talking about Charlotte of course. Charlotte is Ellen’s 25 year old sister, currently finishing her Master in Communications. For the next couple of months, she will be stepping in at LN to help Ellen now that the baby is coming.
Ever since Charlotte was 15, LN Knits has been a part of her life. Before Ellen moved out of her parents’ house, she ran LN from home. “Ellen even taught me how to make beanies, but I wasn’t as good at it as she was. I don’t really have the patience for it.” (laughs) Charlotte has been helping out ever since the brand started: working in the store, in the pop-ups and helping with the big shipments. She has done and seen it all.
It comes as no surprise when I tell you that Charlotte is an entrepreneur herself. “Entrepreneurship runs in the family. Together with my boyfriend I have a home-restaurant called Hemmat. People come and eat in our own apartment with 6 or 8 people. My boyfriend cooks and I serve, while keeping the homey feeling and atmosphere.”
Charlotte dreams of being able to run Hemmat full time and to start a business for herself. “Because my family is filled with entrepreneurs, I don’t know any better. I did an internship for my studies a couple of years ago and I liked it, but I wouldn’t be able to work for someone else my entire life. I want to build something for myself. I admit that building a business is scary, but I would be very unhappy if I wouldn’t even try.”
So as a younger sister, she has nothing but respect for what Ellen built. What she likes the most about the brand is that she has seen the evolution from the beginning to what it is now. “The difference between then and now is just enormous. The collections get prettier and prettier each year and the colours are amazing every time. And of course I admire the fact that people in Peru get more chances thanks to LN. I can only support that!”
When you take a closer look at the names of the LN collections, you will find that some of the pieces are named after family members: Lovely Lutie, Adorable Annie, Fine Filippa, … “One Christmas Ellen gave me a Cosy Charlotte in Mac Lipstick. I didn’t even know there would be a piece named after me! That was so nice. And Mac Lipstick is my favourite colour. That cardigan really is my favourite LN piece of all time.”
But every collection is different and I couldn’t help but notice a picture on Instagram where Charlotte was rocking a Billy Bomber in Moss Green. “Yeah, I love bomber jackets. If I had to pick one favourite piece from this collection, it would definitely be the Billy Bomber. The colour, the quality, … it just has everything. I was one of the first people who was able to buy it, and I’m very happy about that if you see how fast they were sold out!”
Charlotte and I will be working together a lot the coming months. Follow @lnknits on Instagram to keep tuned about what we at LN have in store for you!
Oh, and want to learn more about Hemmat? Follow them on Instagram @hemmat_antwerp (not when you’re hungry, because omnomnom) or go to www.hemmatantwerp.com
