- Art & Design
With a deep love for authenticity and a keen eye for beauty, Sylvie Cleenwerck founded her studio, MoutonMouton — an atelier where emotion takes shape through personal craftsmanship. From her workshop, she creates handmade rugs crafted from 100% natural European sheepskins. Each piece is a unique composition, carefully assembled and hand-stitched. What defines her work is not only its aesthetic quality but its humanity: every rug is made to be lived with, used, and cherished.
Cleenwerck grew up in an environment steeped in craftsmanship, where simplicity and genuineness were second nature. That background continues to form the backbone of her practice. She learned that beauty need not shout; it can reside quietly in textures, colours, and materials that speak without words. As a designer, she relies strongly on intuition — a guiding force that has helped her develop a distinctive and recognisable signature. For her, design is never mere decoration; it is a language through which emotion, calm, and connection are translated into tangible form. 
Her greatest inspiration comes from silence, light, and proximity. Mallorca, her second home, is a wellspring of peace and creativity. It is there that ideas take root, later finding form in her atelier. She describes how the island’s warmth, the textures of stone and soil, and the rhythm of light influence her thinking. Nature and her daily life with her husband provide a balance reflected in her work — understated yet layered; minimal yet full of depth. Her favourite part of the creative process lies in the moment when an idea that once existed only in her mind becomes tangible and takes shape.
Nature and her daily life with her husband provide a balance reflected in her work.
The material she works with demands respect. Only the finest, vegetable-tanned sheepskins are selected, sourced from animals raised for their meat. These natural hides are given a second life rather than being discarded as by-products. Cleenwerck admires the intrinsic qualities of the material — how it radiates warmth, interacts with light, and ages gracefully without losing its beauty. She deliberately chooses to craft each rug by hand. The process takes time but proves that sincere work always retains its value. By striving for serenity, her rugs harmoniously enhance interiors and invite a sense of comfort and togetherness. 
Her work embodies values of responsibility, authenticity, and precision. Each piece carries the time, attention, and discipline that true craft requires. Yet there is a gentleness in her words. She takes pleasure in growing older, in the freedom that comes with experience. She would tell her younger self to move through life slowly, with patience and conviction. ‘Beauty and wisdom ripen with time’, she says. Perhaps that is what MoutonMouton ultimately represents: the luxury of slowness, of making something that endures — and makes the world just a little softer.
Discover more about MoutonMouton in our book ‘Craftswomen’ and our magazine ‘Imagicasa herfst/winter 2025’, both available at shop.imagicasa.be.
Portrait by Thibault De Schepper
Atelier images by Monar Studio
Product photography by Thibault De Schepper and Monar Studio
Images shot at Oscar Interior Objects
Text by Carolien Depamelaere