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ABOUT
Cafe Mortel is a creative studio and production company reimagining funerals and memorial experiences through art, design, and ceremony. Founded in 2021 by Ruby Cohen Love, the studio challenges traditional narratives around mortality — transforming funerals into curated cultural expressions that honour individuality and inspire intentional living.
Through art direction, philosophy, and thoughtful design, we explore how death awareness can inspire creative ways of honouring life — embracing grief while celebrating the people and stories that shape us.
Ruby, a creative director and Central Saint Martins graduate in Fashion Communication, brings together her background in fashion, art, and gastronomy with ongoing studies in thanatology — the discipline that examines death, dying, and loss. Her work merges aesthetics and empathy, proposing that funerals can be designed with the same intentionality and beauty as any other life milestone.
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ORIGINS
The idea for Cafe Mortel began in 2017, when Ruby envisioned her own funeral as a fashion exhibition in Copenhagen — a moment that reframed death as an act of creation. Years later, that personal vision evolved into a studio redefining how society celebrates and commemorates life.
The name draws inspiration from Swiss sociologist Bernard Crettaz and his café mortel movement (better known as the 'death cafe' movement), which opened intimate spaces for conversations about mortality. We continue that dialogue today — translating it into immersive events, exhibitions, and collaborations that make death a subject of beauty, creativity, and presence.
PHILOSOPHY
Cafe Mortel is about death, but it is for the living.
We create intentional environments where people can reflect on mortality while celebrating the richness of being alive.
We believe that facing death—our own and others’—reveals profound meaning and transforms how we live.
By treating one’s deathstyle with the same care and intentionality as lifestyle, we encourage reflection on legacy, values, and the art of living well.
Our approach combines design, storytelling, and emotion to craft ceremonies and experiences that feel personal, poetic, and deeply human — spaces where remembrance becomes a creative act.
SUSTAINABILITY
We are committed to shaping a more regenerative future for death care.
Our collaborations extend to natural burial grounds, eco-memorial reef initiatives, and innovators developing sustainable burial technologies.
Every partnership reflects a circular vision: ensuring that end-of-life practices contribute to environmental renewal rather than depletion.
By turning endings into beginnings, we seek to restore balance — leaving behind not only memories, but living ecosystems that continue to grow long after we are gone.
SOCIAL IMPACT
Our vision extends beyond design and culture — it is also rooted in compassion and accessibility. We believe that everyone deserves a meaningful farewell, regardless of circumstance, and we aim to collaborate with organisations that make this possible.
In the future, Cafe Mortel intends to support initiatives that bring creativity and dignity to those who might otherwise go without. These include providing access to affordable and intentional funerals, and supporting causes linked to mortality such as suicide prevention, the right to die with dignity, and organ and tissue donation.
Each of these represents a different form of continuation — emotional, ethical, or physical — affirming that death awareness is not only philosophical, but profoundly social.For us, reimagining death also means reimagining how we care for one another in life.
Q&A
Q: What is Cafe Mortel?
A: Cafe Mortel is a creative studio and production company reimagining how we honour life and death through art, design, and ceremony. We explore new ways of commemorating meaning — from bespoke funerals to immersive cultural events — for the living, the dying, and the dead.
Q: Are you a funeral home?
A: No. We are not a traditional funeral provider. Our work focuses on creative direction, storytelling, and experience design — often in collaboration with forward-thinking funeral homes, artists, and partners.
Q: What do you mean by “deathstyle”?
A: “Deathstyle” is our way of saying that death deserves the same reverence, creativity, and individuality as lifestyle. It’s about shaping how we’re remembered — not through excess, but through intention and beauty.
Q: Why talk about death at all?
A: Because ignoring it doesn’t make it disappear. Talking about death helps us live more consciously — to value time, relationships, and meaning. Death awareness isn’t morbid; it’s a mirror that reflects what truly matters.
Q: Who are your projects for?
A: For anyone curious about mortality, ritual, or legacy. We work with individuals, families, artists, and brands who want to approach commemoration in a more creative, reflective, or sustainable way.
Q: Do you replace religious or cultural rituals?
A: Never. We honour tradition while expanding what ritual can mean today. Our ceremonies often weave together art, design, and personal heritage — coexisting with spiritual or cultural customs, not erasing them.
Q: Are your experiences only for the end of life?
A: Not at all. Many of our events — such as Living Funerals or Events to Die For — invite people to reflect on mortality as a way of celebrating life, at any age or health condition.
Q: How can someone work with you?
A: Every collaboration begins with a conversation. Whether it’s designing a funeral, planning a memorial, or exploring a creative partnership, we start by listening — to who you are, what you value, and how you want to be remembered. You can start by e-mailing us at contact@cafemortel.world