Kareen Durbin of Companion: Interview + Reflection

16 Nov

KATIE BROWN - 16 NOV 2020

Kareen Durbin heads up Companion alongside her husband, Will. A social business working with migrants and former refugees, Companion designs and manufactures clothing and homeware products. With a focus on the collision of traditions, slow design and the application of artisanal techniques, Companion employs an ethos of environmental and social sustainability. The current Companion collection consists of hats constructed using recycled and repurposed fabrics, and the Durbins encourage their customers to purchase thoughtfully and with an eye to longevity - a refreshing reminder as we all navigate the ever-changing world of online shopping in a year that has seen it step up to a very different level.

Read more about Kareen’s experience of the delicate balance between motherhood and running a business below.

A selection of current season Companion hats available via the Companion online store. Photography by Ophelia King

DESCRIBE A TYPICAL DAY IN YOUR LIFE:

We currently reside off-the-grid in a house bus. Situated in a semi-rural spot towards Te Henga, even when inside, our gaze tends outward. Additionally our 18 month old, Nina, is an outdoors girl, so a typical day involves a lot of swing-pushing and cow-watching. When she naps I fit in as much work as possible on Companion from the studio we built next to us. She is in daycare for a little too, so I spend that time immersed in the list of things to do, and try to remember to sit in the hammock for five minutes and enjoy the solitude.

WHAT ARE YOU READING AT THE MOMENT?

Poetry by Wendell Berry, whose essays I also recommend highly, and Simplicity: The Freedom of Letting Go by Franciscan monk Richard Rohr.

WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO?

The (new) Lion King soundtrack with Nina a little (she likes to dance!), Eddie Chacon's album Pleasure, Joy & Happiness, which has been something of a soundtrack to spring, and RNZ more than anything else. I have been craving silence too of late.

WHO CURRENTLY INSPIRES YOU?

Photographer Ilsa Wynne-Hoelscher Kidd comes to mind. She is a mother of young children and creates a lot of work capturing them, other mothers and pregnant women. She even has a significant ongoing series intimately capturing home births! Not to mention super elegant, fresh and immediate fashion photography. I admire her honesty as she works hard as an artist in tandem with trying to be what her family needs.

HOW HAS IT BEEN COMBINING MOTHERHOOD WITH RUNNING COMPANION?

Today I feel certain the combination is my happy place. In all honesty I think I’m just not zen enough to enjoy pushing someone on a swing for extended periods (even on the most beautiful of days) without having projects to muse on. It’s a tricky thing though, choosing to split your attention. I do find myself wondering at times if the satisfaction I find in work makes me enjoy being a mother more and I’m therefore emotionally attentive, or if I’m just being selfish and Nina will suffer in some psychological manner.

(cont’d below)

WHAT ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO OVER THE COMING MONTHS, BOTH IN YOUR PERSONAL LIFE AND WITH COMPANION?

Spring alongside our daughter has been full with observations of the lambs and flowers that arrive in tandem with warming weather. I’m looking forward to more of the same, really - sun and swimming. In contrast, in the context of Companion we are thinking about autumn / winter hats and I can’t wait to release this warm woollen series.

FAST-FORWARD 10 YEARS: HOW DOES LIFE LOOK FOR YOU?

Hopefully the continuation of the duality of motherhood paired with a business creating alongside migrants and former refugees. Ideally a bit of travel too, as inconceivable as that seems currently! I have always hoped to have a place to return to for a couple of months each NZ winter, where you get to know people really well and make things together.

THE BEST PIECE OF ADVICE YOU'VE BEEN GIVEN LATELY?

A notion from Richard Rohr has stuck with me: contemplation rather than consumerism. This is such a challenge as a Westerner with a world view so fully formed by our capitalist culture, but it’s worth considering, I think.

YOUR ADVICE FOR THOSE JUGGLING PARENTING WITH BUSINESS AND CREATIVE PURSUITS?

Do what you need to do so that the time you're with your child is predominantly spent from a position of joy rather than resentment. For me, at least, that looks like having room to create in order to feel productive, and I am then able to relax into Nina’s pace.

(cont’d below)

Musings from the intersection between mother and maker / an admission to self doubt’s current iterations

Kareen Durbin

Perhaps people have been asking such questions since the beginning, but is it irresponsible to bear children when it seems the world is ending?

How can I concern myself with such concepts as criticism of consumption when running a business dependent on people’s purchases, regardless of how overtly thoughtful approaches to this are encouraged?

In hindsight, will the time spent away from my daughter in her fleeting childhood be a regret? How does one even function from a place of contemplation, of sustained noticing? Will she be okay?

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