our vision
Across Generations
As an archaeologist, Elisabeth was greatly intrigued by what previous cultures and generations left us. Jewels that you pass on to your descendants are not only the most personal and precious pieces, they each tell their own story and that piece of history one delivers over and over again.
Atelier Leenknegt -itself also a story of generations- was founded by grandfather Michiel Leenknegt, then father Jan took over and today Elisabeth runs it under the name Elisa Lee. Over the years Atelier Leenknegt always opted for craftsmanship, innovation, sustainable materials and aesthetics.
In beauty
EL strives to bring beauty into everything they do. In our way of producing, our values, in the way we deal with customers and suppliers, in big and small things. How can beautiful designs also be relevant and meaningful? For us, it is by connecting people -and their stories. At all levels, we want to reflect critically on whether what we do contributes to a more beautiful world.
Walk the talk
Elisabeth walks her talk. For 20 years now, doing business locally and circularly has been the most obvious thing for her. Values like inclusiveness and love permeate within the Elisa Lee organizational culture and beyond. If you're wondering why Elisa Lee has been walking this path for years, think "love is the way".
Invest in earth
Atelier Elisa Lee works with pure raw materials that are available. No new mining - there is enough material in circulation. We only work together with reliable and local suppliers and realize almost everything in our own atelier. To keep our impact as low as possible and to invest as much as possible in the earth, we also invest in a small, local forestry project. For every piece of jewelry sold, we plant a native tree or shrub and in this way we want to realize our own food forest.
Elisa Lees Tiny Forest
Elisa Lee is planting a native tree or shrub species for each jewel sold, combined with yield trees and shrubs: gooseberry (paw paw), almond nut, apple, pear, cherry, kiwi berry, ... The place where we realize this oasis is situated in a source area between the Hotondbos and Bois Jolybos (Natuurpunt). Together with some other private forests, we want to create this linkage. Currently, the following animals have been spotted on the 3.6 ha plot: fallow deer, roe deer, hedgehogs, stone martens, alpine newt, adder, fox and glowworm. All this beauty is the main inspiration for the new collections.