Elskerlife

From Politician to Brand Founder

Multi-faceted powerhouse Elise Dünweber is a member of The Conservative Party and is also a fervent patron of the Conservative Animal Welfare Foundation. For a period of 3 years, she had significant involvement on the Parliamentary List and in 2015 she was a candidate in the General Election. After being deeply involved in politics and animal welfare over several years, she can now add Creative Director of lifestyle brand Elskerlife to her many other prominent and noteworthy titles.

You are the founder of Elskerlife, a lifestyle and fashion brand that embraces comfort and simplicity. Was creating your own brand something that you always had in mind?

No - not at all in fact! I went to drama school, worked in the acting industry and then after that came politics for ten years. I had noexperience in the fashion industry whatsoever but I have always been very creative & resourceful, and I know what I like. After one of my best friends passed away five years ago, I decided to take the sadness I felt and focus on thinking about the engaging spirit she had and how I could encompass that zest for life into something positive. I am proud of what we have created and delighted that in doing so I have been able to harness one of my main passions - and hers -Animal Welfare. “Elsker” is Danish for Love and so it’s all about loving life and living it to the full which sadly my dear friend could not.

What makes Elskerlife different from other leisure and lifestyle brands?

We keep it simple and each new product includes unique and original artwork by our in-house artist (my eldest daughter Shannon, also a freelance yoga instructor). Our products have been very successful in the yoga market, as there is a very positive and zen-like feel to Elskerlife. We want people to feel good with our products - if you feel good, that shines through in your aura and then you look good. With Elskerlife, people also get something really lovely at a decent pricepoint. I think people appreciate and value good quality and authenticity.

What has been the most rewarding part of building your brand?

The feeling that people are enjoying it. Knowing that customers are happy and come back to buy gifts for their friends and family feels rewarding. A friend recently sent me a press article of a well-known actress wearing a scarf I had designed while travelling, it was like seeing your artwork on display in a top gallery!

Were you always clear that Elskerlife would be a family business? How does being a family business reinforce the brand’s values?

No - it just evolved this way... One way or another everyone gets involved in whatever the family is doing. When I was growing up and my father was putting on a production, everyone got involved whether they wanted to or not, but we all embraced it and enjoyed being a part of it. I suppose I have carried that ethos with me, and I love having everyone involved. Of course, it’s my own project and they are all equally busy doing their own thing but Elskerlife is definitely something they are involved with and have been since the start. Art & design are created by my eldest daughter, and marketing, modelling and shoot co-ordination are handled by my younger daughters Jasmine & Francesca, which is great as they are digitally very savvy and have strong ideas on what works and what doesn’t. My son Harison is in international business and my husband is in finance so they always have something to say! Doing things together has always been important to me, and family is the core of life.

What are your favorite products from your brand and how do you personally use them?

I love the bamboo sweatshirts; they are so soft. I wear them all the time, either walking the dogs, after a workout or just relaxing at home. I also adore the new dresses for summer (pictured). They are perfect for the beach, poolside or relaxed summer lunches. They are feminine and elegant but also practical, which I feel is so important especially when travelling or in the heat. They don’t crease, which is really important to me. If a fabric creases, I don’t want it! The most precious thing in our lives is time and I don’t want anyone to waste time ironing especially in the summer. The masks are brilliant too. Obviously, I would rather not wear them at all but rules are rules and I would rather be in something fun and comfortable than look like a dentist and dry out my skin with a disposable mask. It really upsets me seeing how many of those things end up in the sea and littering our coastline.

Elskerlife donates 20% of profits to support International Animal Welfare. Are there other ways you intend to implement philanthropy into your brand?

I am always looking for ways to incorporate philanthropic causes. Animal Welfare has always been and always will be hugely important to me and I will prioritise that as much as I possibly can. I am sent new projects and initiatives on a regular basis and there is so much more I wish I could do.

How would you describe your personal style?

Comfortable elegance. My mother is French and she always gets it so right. I have to be comfortable, and if I can make that look good aswell, then I’m happy. I used to be in smart & sensible clothes all the time and then one day one of my daughters said “Mum you have left politics, stop dressing like a politician, you are still young enough to look a bit sexy!” It’s nice to dress up when I am not in sportswear or “dog safe” outfits but I have to say I am all for age-appropriate clothes... Probably not a popular comment but I do believe that there comes a time when some outfits should be left to the beauty of youth,as one of my best friends recently put it - we have passed the baton to our daughters for the head turning. I see some women in their fifties trying to compete with the twenty and thirty-year-olds which is quite unnecessary really. Having said that, I do hope to be wearing a bikini for as long as possible so perhaps I am a bit hypocritical..

Since 2010 you have helped achieve many notable achievements in animal welfare. The ConservativeAWF just recently helped deliver tougher prison terms for animal abusers, what plans are there to further protect animals and pets?

We have pushed for this measure since 2016, have handed our animal welfare manifesto to No10 and Ministers in January 2017 and 2019 and are delighted that many of our proposals are included in the Government’s Action Plan for Animal Welfare. These include recognising animals as sentient beings in UK law, a ban on trophyhunting imports of wild animals, banning primates as pets, introducing a close season for brown hares, ending glue traps and looking atending the use of cruel snares, end the import and export of shark fins and a ban on advertisements promoting low welfare tourist experiences abroad such as riding Asian elephants.

Concerning pet animals, we have always pressed for mandatory cat microchipping, and a crackdown on puppy smuggling via newlegislation. We welcome the Govt taskforce to tackle the dog theft crisis. The Government will review improvements for racing greyhounds and for equine identification to be introduced. We also welcome recent Govt action to stop the import of poor dogs withcropped ears from abroad. The Government will bring in powers to increase the minimum age that dogs can be non-commercially moved or commercially imported into Great Britain and restrict the ability of unscrupulous traders to move heavily pregnant dogs into Great Britain both commercially and non-commercially. There is also consideration of reforms to provide greater assurance that microchip database information is checked appropriately, for example in cases where healthy dogs are presented to vets for euthanasia, as campaigned for via the ‘Tuk’s Law’ movement. Our Co-founder met with a DefraMinster on this issue with the Tuks Law founders in 2019 to press for this measure.

What role do you think Covid-19 has played in the development of animal welfare?

Covid-19 has shown us that the pandemic has had a devastating impact upon animal charities and presented deep challenges to their provision to care for vulnerable animals. Many zoos have been at crisis point to fund the care of their animals. The Government provided funds to help with this. There have been distressing reports in the media of animal charities and shelters being overwhelmed by unwanted dogs whose owners bought them during lockdown as companions but no longer wanted the responsibility of dog ownership and all that entails. Coronavirus has undoubtedly created unprecedented problems for the animal welfare sector yet it has provided an opportunity to address key animal welfare issues concerning the link between wild animals and the spread of zoonotic diseases. This pandemic has caused us to examine our relationship with animals both in the wildlife trade and on industrial farms where animals in overcrowded caged systems provides the ideal breeding ground for dangerous new strains of the virus to mutate and infect humans.

We have all been appalled by the huge culling of 17 million mink on industrial fur farms in Denmark overfears of a mutated form of coronavirus being passed onto the public. The UK has tens of thousands of vast intensive farm units, where farm animals are kept in units so overcrowded and stressful, they can provide ideal breeding grounds for pathogens to mutate and spread. This pandemic has made it evident that our health depends on the health of animals and our shared environment, and we must drive forward a new relationship with nature to prevent the emergence of disease and future pandemics.

In what ways does the UK’s departure from the EU allow the Action Plan for Animal Welfare to have a more assertive role on the world stage?

Leaving the EU has presented key opportunities for the UK to ban live animal exports for slaughter and fattening which we could not do as a member of the EU. We hope that other countries will follow our lead and example and ban live exports across the world. We can also go further than the EU and ban cruel foie gras imports and fur imports. We will lead our own farming policies and reward farmers who adopt higher animal welfare systems, such as ending pig farrowing crates and cages for egg laying birds. We can act as a world leader on the world stage on our farming policies to farm in ways that restore natural resources, soils, water, biodiversity, reduce farm antibiotic use and ensure that our farming and diets contributes to combatting Climate Change. We can end advertisements promoting unethical elephant related tourist attractions and encourage other countries to do the same. We can end cruel trophy hunting imports to protect vulnerable and endangered species abroad. We need to end industrial factory farms which treat sentient animals as products.

Your social media profile often showcases your projects with Animal Welfare. Do you find that social media helps bring awareness to important causes and has caused a shift in people’s feelings towards charitywork?

Absolutely. Social media can be so positive for good causes and I have had a lot of feedback from people appreciative of what I share. Equally, I think it is a powerful tool for many other charities. I have sponsored people doing all sorts of weird and wonderful things to help causes they are passionate about and I would never have known about the great work that goes on across the board if it wasn’t for all the digital sharing. It’s about strength in numbers and raisingawareness in a positive manner. Homelessness, disabilities, personal journeys, mental health, life-limiting conditions, care for the environment - a little goes a long way,and if we all work together, we can achieve so much.

What do you enjoy doing in your downtime?

There are never enough hours in the day to do everything I truly love to do (I get cross when I hear people say they are bored - what aluxury!) My favourite things when I make time are: hiking with my hounds & the triple A gang (pure bliss), beating my husband at backgammon (equally satisfying), spending time with my children laughing until our sides hurt doing impressions, preparing food and enjoying our own weird language (every family does that right?!), practicing my Spanish, reading books (3 friends, my father & my godfather have all written books recently - I shamefully can’t keepup!), Pilates (a must) and drinking fine wine while putting the world torights with my wonderful friends...