Interview with: Nicolai Lund
Photography by: Ecuadane

Nicolai Lund, who founded the blanket company Ecuadane alongside his wife and three daughters, discusses the magic behind their handwoven products.

Tell us about Ecuadane:
I’m from Denmark and came to the United States thirty years ago. I got a job on Wall Street shortly after moving here, and I’ve been working there and in the financial industry ever since. But my family and I always wanted to have our own business. One year, we were visiting my wife’s family in Ecuador for Thanksgiving, and my mother-in-law asked me to bring a few blankets home to sell to friends at our next Christmas party. We ended up selling ten for $200 each and then sent the money to my mother-in- law, who used it to buy around five hundred gifts for children at a local school and orphanage.

After that, our friends started asking us to bring more blankets back from Ecuador, so we did for three more years. People fell in love with the blankets, and my three daughters suggested that we turn it into a family business. My wife came up with the name Ecuadane, and I think it’s pretty powerful because it brings our two countries—Ecuador and Denmark—together. Likewise, our blankets blend the Ecuadorian culture’s colors, designs, and artisans with the Danish tradition of hygge, which focuses on coziness and living in the moment.

In America, we work all the time and it can be hard to slow down and enjoy life, but that largely changed during the pandemic. People started to invest in their homes by painting them, decorating them, or adding decks, and they experienced just a taste of what it means to truly embrace life to the fullest and appreciate coziness. Now is the perfect time for Ecuadane blankets to be in American homes.

What makes your blankets unique?
There’s a soul in our blankets. In fact, I call them “magic.” Our blankets are large and meant to be shared, so you can snuggle close with your partner or child. They have a great weight to them, which really makes all the difference. They let the warm air in and keep the cold out, but they’re still breathable.

Even more, people are often shocked by how soft they are. The fibers are brushed, which breaks down the material and makes it more comfortable. But like all other fibers, this means sections could end up pilling or clumping as it rubs against your body; that’s completely normal and will go away once you wash it (at least once or twice a year) and brush it with our blanket brush. If you take care of yours, it will continually look brand new and only get more comfortable the longer you use it. We offer a lifetime warranty on our blankets because we truly stand behind our products.

How careful do people need to be with Ecuadane blankets?
They’re more than just a blanket that you throw on your couch as decoration. Our blankets are meant to be used and go with you wherever today or tomorrow takes you.

In the morning, imagine waking up to an Ecuadane blanket on top of your bed and pulling it with you as you stroll through the house to make coffee. Later in the day, you may bring it with you to your child’s soccer game out in the cold to keep you and your other parent friends warm. When you get home, if your kid knocks over a bottle of milk and the blanket is the closest thing to you, you could use it to quickly clean up the mess and then toss it in the wash. And once it’s dry, it could go back with you to bed as you start your routine all over. That’s a typical day for an Ecuadane blanket.

You are known for blankets but also make other luxurious products. What materials do you use?
We’re what you call affordable luxury: we don’t compromise on quality but still try to make products that everyone can experience. So we sell various home items that are made of different materials. There are more luxury products like our wool, alpaca wool, and mohair throws, but our main products, our queen-sized blankets, are made of 100 percent recycled mod-acrylic materials. This makes our larger blanket more affordable, but they are also more sustainable and completely washable.

Tell us about your designs:
Every color has a specific reference, such as wealth or health. Ecuadorian blankets tend to be more colorful and vibrant, which we embrace in our current offerings. Over the years, though, we realized that they aren’t always suitable for American homes, so we started designing more neutral throws to try and appeal to a wider audience.

We have a very loyal customer base and won’t ever abandon the Ecuadorian traditions, but we also want more people to experience our products; offering more styles is the key to that. We’re passionate about what we do and are dedicated to making the best possible products for our customers. That means we’re always searching for ways to make them even better.

Ecuadane clearly values connection with others. How else do you make people’s lives better?
Partnering with Ecuadorian artisans has always been and always will be a core part of our business model. We’re a small, family-owned business that supports and brings other families together.

Beyond that, we partnered with the Wounded Warrior Project last year to design a blanket with their logo, which they gave to major donors and helped the organization raise even more donations. I didn’t go to war for this country and only became a citizen in 2020, but our soldiers have made a tremendous sacrifice and I want to help them in any way I can. I want to continue partnering with different organizations to support their amazing causes and bring comfort and joy to people when they need it most.

For more info, visit ecuadane.com