"I love it when the things I surround myself with have a soul" - Julie: Creative consultant and founder of Collect23

Julie at home in the kitchen in Østerbro, Copenhagen.

We met Julie for a chat about interior design and sustainability. You are quickly drawn to Julie's colorful and warm personality. This is also one of the things that defines her style and what drives her in her work. Both when she works as a model, stylist, creative consultant, and when she designs clothes for her own line “Collect23 Remade”, which is made from recycled materials and is part of the range at the vintage webshop Collect23, which has just opened a showroom in central Copenhagen.

What interests you?
“Vintage fashion and design, which I geek out on quite a lot in my role as owner of Collect23… I love it when the things I surround myself with have a soul and a design that has been thought through.”

Julie in the Collect23 showroom on Sølvgade in Copenhagen.

And Julie is a social person, so it means a lot to her how those closest to her are doing. “I care a lot about my relationships and am very curious about people and relational dynamics.”

How would you describe your style?
“Colorful, personal, and a bit ‘Villa Villekulla’." 

It is important to Julie that the things she has at home make her happy, and she likes that the interior reflects her personality. But functionality and needs also weigh heavily when you are a family: “Four of us live in 80 sqm, so there are no items in our home that are superfluous". Therefore, if Julie and her family need a piece of furniture for the apartment, she spends a good amount of time researching which piece fits best functionally and stylistically.

At Julie's home. The vase is from KEEPR; Strøm XL Salsa Vase from raawii.

Julie’s style is a fine balance between the practical and the personal, where the things in the home must provide good energy. “I’m the kind of person who feels everything quite deeply, and it means a lot to me to have a warm and cozy interior”, Julie explains. 

What do you love about your home?
“In addition to our art, I really love our display cabinet, which was bought second-hand. It's the only place I can arrange small still lifes without it having to make way for Lego, markers, or other of the children's things. Additionally, I love our blue Verner Panton chair, which we use as a coffee table and which the boys love to include in their play in different ways”.

“For me, it’s not necessarily very important that a specific designer made the furniture, but more important whether the comfort is good, whether it has an aesthetic expression that speaks to me. And whether it’s an investment, meaning it should be able to last for many years.” Such a piece of furniture can easily be second-hand according to Julie. When she goes second-hand hunting, it can be in physical thrift stores, flea markets, online marketplaces, and KEEPR.

What is your driving force in Collect23?

“I simply can't help myself. I think my mission is important and I feel it makes so much sense.” 

Caring for the environment is also one of the reasons Julie started Collect23. “The business was created from a vision to make online vintage shopping easier… I felt we were missing a webshop with a curated selection of vintage, where the shopping experience is as easy as on other major webshops, where with a few clicks you can get what you dream of delivered to your door.”

It is clear that Julie is passionate about Collect23 and she wears many hats: “I buy the stock, take the pictures for the webshop, run the Instagram profile, etc”. And the Remade collection is her own design made from recycled materials and sewn by her mother, who is a tailor. 

What does sustainability mean to you? 
“It takes up a lot of space… I had a period where I walked around being a bit too climate-anxious and almost felt guilty about bringing children into the world. I'm done with that.”

“I strongly believe that everyone can do something, but no one can do everything.”

Therefore, almost everything in Julie and the family's home is second-hand. “I only buy things that last and that can be sold on if we one day don't need them anymore. That way, we keep our consumption circular, and I am generally a person who only buys a few things I truly love instead of several things I'm only semi-happy with.”

“I would also rather pay more for something and know that my children can one day inherit it or it can be sold on to someone else who can enjoy it.”