ABout me
My name is Anna and I am 22 years old and from Denmark. I am on my second gap year and I have spend the past 2 years travelling a lot and working in my hometown in a coffee shop and a cafe. I love to combine my travels with a bit of work; usually as a volunteer in a surfcamp or surf hostel - yes I discovered surfing and I love it! I love the ocean and my favourite thing to do when I’m in my hometown is to go swimming and it doesn’t matter what time of the year it is.
What I love about travelling is all the amazing people you meet and all the stories you share. I always try to stay at one place for more time to really get a feeling of the place and the local life. Experiencing the daily life around the world and meeting the people who were born and raised there are one of the beauties of travelling.
As you may have guessed I love to chrochet and I have noticed that I actually enjoy being creative. I started chrocheting in 2021 and since that I have been sticking to it. Now I thought that I would combine two things I love; chrocheting and travelling. It makes great sense since I get inspired from colours or shapes I notice in the places I visit. This is a way for me to bring my experiences from around the world into small items that I hope you will bring with you on your adventures; whether is your daily life or a journey somewhere else!
Why Anlou?
It all started in Morocco. I spontaneously booked a flight a week before going and found a volunteer position in a surfhostel 5 days before going there. I got to work together with Reka, from Hungary, who also was a volunteer and we had lots of fun. One day Reka and I went to a market with my friend Julia, from Germany, who I met in Sri Lanka. After the market we went for a coffee and Reka and Julia kept on asking why I did not sell the things I chrocheted. I told them I have been thinking about it a few times, but always came to the conclusion that so many people make similar things. Reka and Julia insisted that my things were special and I thought “why not?” give it a shot since I love chrocheting and have a lot of ideas.
One evening Reka and I had a few beers with the guests on the rooftop and we started brainstorming about a name for my brand. We started thinking about things I love and we thought of Amlo, which is a Moroccan spread you eat for breakfast made with argan oil, honey and almond butter. Then Reka tried to combine it with my name Anna and after some time we randomly ended up with “ANLOU” - we were both super happy with the name and I immediately started designing a logo. The meaning of “ANLOU” sounds super random, but I think it represent my state of mind and personality pretty well since I like to live “day by day” and see what is gonna happen.
When drawing the logo for “ANLOU” I again thought of something I like and that is why the “L” is shaped as a surfboard. I started surfing in Sri Lanka January 2024 and since that I have been in love with surfing! The logo is drawed by hand and I choose to keep it this way because it represent the handmade pieces I sell, that is full of colors and shapes, but still with an aesthetic look.
