About KleinKram
KleinKram started in 2015 when Katharina and Karoline joined together in a venture to create the “urban ant”. That first product targeted parents who always need to have their bits and pieces with them during the day – as “kleinkram” literally translates to “bits and pieces”. It also represents the bits and pieces we all love and like to carry around with us.
Furthermore both names, Karoline and Katharina, start with a “K” so they decided to lay emphasis on the two capital “K”s in the company’s name “KleinKram”.
In April 2018 Karoline and Katharina chose to give their cooperation a new twist. Karoline’s graphic talent is still a source of creativity for KleinKram, however it is now up to Katharina’s talent to take KleinKram into a prosperous future.
Katharina Höttinger
“If you think you can, you can.
If you think you can’t, you can’t”
What does KleinKram mean to me?
Taking care of my own company allows me to live my passion for different cultures and doing business. At the same time it allows me to awaken my own creativity and bring joy to the homes withe KleinKram products!
Karoline Kiss
“We grow with our tasks and challenges!”
How do I contribute to KleinKram?
I am literally doing what I have been wishing to do since my teenage years – being creative! With KleinKram my dream has come true: I can design independently and be as creative as possible in my work!
How it all came about …
Katharina:
„One of my greatest passions is travelling and seeing the diverse and great cultures which make our world so fascinating. It lets me immerse my mind and body into the new, the undiscovered and exciting dimensions of life.
In 2005 my Indian friend Varun invited me to visit him and his family in Delhi. It was my first trip to India and the country with all its diversity and beauty immediately captured my heart. Since then, I have travelled to India on many occasions, enjoying the rich culture, its people, landscape and food, and my bond with this country has strengthened over the years.
When I last visited India in 2015 a touching experience with three native women made me think about how to help and support people in a society in which their needs often go unnoticed. That same day, after this eye-opening experience, I was sitting with my friend Katka in a beautiful garden in Southern India, thinking about possibilities to help women in need.
It came to me then and there that my friend, Karoline, who is talented and creative, and my Indian friend, Varun, who has all the connections one needs between manufacturers and companies in India as well as abroad, would be the ideal persons to make things work.
Immediately I initiated all the necessary steps to be taken, making calls, exchanging my ideas with Karoline and Varun and convincing them to join me in this exciting new venture.
And so we began to work not only on the creative side of Karoline’s ideas but also on the socially effective and ecologically worthwhile way to produce our product.
In the months to come we were confronted with many decisions we had to make; regardless of whether it was choosing the final design and colour of the patterns, the method of producing the fabrics and the making of the bags or the economic and financial route we were about to take.
And we could not have done it without the help of all those involved, directly and indirectly, especially our family and friends. I am convinced that with our ideas and the wish to support people in a challenging society we can make a difference!”
Karoline:
“It was in 2009 that I was inspired to start sewing. I started with easy patterns for patchwork cushions, dolls and later on for bags. When I fell pregnant with my son sewing took on a whole new meaning: sewing outfits and accessories for babies was the new trend!
Then a friend, whose son was the same age as mine, asked me to sew a “baby” toiletry bag for short travels and daily use into which diapers and other baby necessities would fit. To go the step further I made the travel bag in such a way that it could easily be attached to a pram and so would not have to be carried separately by the mom.
I continued to work on the design, adjusting and enlarging the bag but keeping it as practicable as possible. I then gave this newer designed bag to one of my dear friends who had just given birth to her daughter.
Four years down the line the toiletry bag is still being put to good use – my dear friend’s daughter has filled it with her own treasures, her “bits and pieces” (Kleinkram), and absolutely loves it!
This in turn convinced me to expand on the idea and concept of my “baby” toiletry bag and make it accessible to a larger clientele. And Katharina’s idea to start our own company came at the appropriate time.
So we sat down, revised the designs and after many hours improved the product we wanted to create and get out there. Eventually I realised I also wanted to design the actual fabric patterns and motifs too – this meant sitting down and working late into the night, drawing, designing, and redoing and improving many of my ideas.
With Katharina’s feedback we not only chose the pattern designs but also the types of fabric and colours we wanted to use. With this task freshly behind us we created our first product, the “Stadtameise”, i.e. “urban ant”.
And these were so to say the first cornerstones I had to put down to fulfil my dream and turning my creative hobby into my work!”
