November 3, 2015
Mind the Cork
Maker Spotlight
We’ve got a sweet little Maker Spotlight today featuring the beautiful design wares of Mind the Cork. Mind the Cork was founded in 2013 by designer Jenny Espirito Santo, who’s inspired by the natural value of materials and the sense of history and heritage they embody. These pieces elevate the humble cork into one of a kind statement pieces for your home, and we can’t wait to make our living spaces look awesome!
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Where did your business name come from? Is there an interesting history behind?
My business name has a few influences. Anyone who lives or has been to London (or heard of!) will recognise the term “mind the gap”. When I was growing up, I often heard adults saying, “oh, mind the cork” when serving wine at the dinner table.
My aim was to make people consider cork as a high end sustainable material that is great to use in design and as a leather alternative too; so the idea behind it was to “mind”, to “consider”, to “be aware” of something. I liked that play on words and meaning.
When/Why did you start working in this particular craft/field?
My background is interior design and while I really enjoyed it, I had this feeling at the back of my mind that I wanted to work in a very specialised field and I wanted it to be sustainable and meaningful to me.
Working with cork is important to me because of my Portuguese heritage and because it’s so incredibly eco-friendly. I think is a product that looks to the future; the natural resources we have available and how we use them creatively.
Have you sacrificed anything to create your business? If so, what was it, and do you have any regrets?
Long and random backpacking trips around the world! Traveling is one of my great passions and something I was able to do fairly regularly when I was an employee. Ever the optimist, I thought that by being my own boss I would have more flexibility and control over when and long I could travel for. How naive! My business takes up every minute of my every day but I have no regrets at all, when I can look back at the milestones I achieved so far, and all the future things I have planned.
What are your plans for the future of Mind the Cork?
I am very happy to see cork being increasingly used and featured in design. My goal is to expand my range of homeware and lifestyle products and exhibit in different countries around the world.
I also love doing collaboration projects, so really looking forward to a few things that may be happening in the near future!
Just look at those pillows! We can’t wait to see these lovelies in person at our London Fair this weekend. If you aren’t in London, you can find Mind the Cork online here: