Article in Funeral Journal

Arne and Robbe said goodbye to their mother Monique Rang, who passed away unexpectedly.

A mother who was dealing with death

They used to find it difficult, a mother who was often preoccupied with death. “To a certain extent, I understood what she was doing,” says Arne Wijnands (31). “We both helped her with her business. But I only really understood the added value of a shroud when she herself passed away.” After her sudden death, the brothers discovered in the house of their mother, Monique Rang (61), that 'strangely enough' she had not made a shroud for herself. Brother Robbe (34): “We dived into her closet and picked out a beautiful, coarsely woven linen shroud for her.” Every day, Robbe, Arne and his girlfriend Lieke (29) folded the shroud in which Monique lay a little more together. Arne: “Every time you fold the cloth a little more, you say goodbye more. It felt really good to take care of her like that, the three of us. As we stood around my mother in the shroud, it suddenly became crystal clear to me what her mission with Wikkelgoed was.” After the funeral, they knew: their mother's company will continue.

Mother's mission

“It is a beautiful irony that Wikkelgoed started for us with the death of our mother,” says Arne. “For her, Wikkelgoed also started with the death of her own mother and the lack of anything other than a lacquered coffin with a red velvet interior.” Robbe: “She could be very annoyed by how funeral directors stuck to the traditional funeral, without offering the bereaved alternatives. Monique’s view of the funeral industry was very new at the time.” The trio is continuing Monique’s mission: making the shroud accessible to as many people as possible. The major funeral directors are important players in this. “We would like to start discussions with DELA and Yarden soon, for example, to think further about the possibilities,” says Arne. “We are currently already working a lot with funeral directors who are affiliated with them.” Do the men see it as a danger that the shroud, as a personal and unique concept, might soon become a mass product? Arne: “No, I think that the personal value of saying goodbye is not tied to the product. The shroud can make it easier to deal with it in a personal way. A shroud is very touchable and soft and therefore takes away some of the distance around death.”

Responsible

With the takeover, the trio is entering a new market, where competition in shrouds is increasing. They are not afraid of that. “We hope that other manufacturers will add something creative to the shroud, so that the choice for interested parties is increased,” says Arne. Wikkelgoed products consist of natural materials and are plain colored. “Monique designed and made all the shrouds herself. We cannot and do not want to do that. For us, it feels good to have the shrouds made in a social workshop, because we believe that this product should be manufactured with appropriate care and attention. The workshop is close to us in Amsterdam, so that it is easy to quickly realize special requests from customers. For example, we recently made a shroud from denim. Our mission is that all our products will soon be made responsibly and sustainably. The new bamboo shroud, biodegradable and unbleached, fits in well with that.” Written by Marike Wouters for the Vakblad Uitvaart