She is a woman full of passion, and that is reflected in the work she does. She shows great attention to detail in all the items she lays her hands on, and her customers value the precision of her work. Otilje has two craft certificates in Industrial Seam and Dress and Suit Seam. In times gone by, she would have been called a tailor – but she is a very flexible tailor. She saw an opportunity in the market and in her local area. As nobody else was doing this as their job (just as a hobby, or as more prominent companies doing similar work as a sideline), she grabbed the opportunity.
Her workshop contributes to giving her customers' clothes a longer lifespan, keeping her customers from perhaps buying new items in a fast fashion store. These choices can be seen as being both financially and environmentally beneficial. By choosing not to buy new clothes, but paying instead to repair an item they already own, customers are changing their consumer habits. In the long run, her customers are saving money by not buying several new versions of what they already own. In doing so, they are no longer supporting fast fashion stores, and they are changing the environmental impact caused by their consumption habits.
Another essential aspect Otilje wants to highlight is the importance of changing the focus regarding clothes and how they fit a person. In a world where people tell you to lose weight so that you can fit into pants that are a size too small, she wants the focus to change from ‘change the person to fit the item’ to ‘change the item to fit the person’.
