a few of you are aware that I started a furniture company in 2021. it’s kind of funny, weird, and unexpected but I’ve always loved furniture and furniture design since a kid. I used to make these drawings and models of things I drew. It was a solid mix of furniture and spaces.
When I moved into my first apartment post-undergrad I literally hated everything on the market. Everything was so boring or simply just not something I felt reflected me. It was also difficult to find furniture that was sustainable and didn’t look it. If you’ve known me for a long time you know I care deeply about the environment. You also know that even though I am extremely passionate about I subvert the aesthetics of sustainability. A friend has that I subvert a lot of aesthetics and they’re right, there are a lot of boxes across a variety of aesthetics and styles that I cross but some very key ones that I always end up vehemently opposing. Personally, I think this is where true style lies and it’s truly a fun (albeit weird) space to exist in. It’s a space of exploration and exists in multiple capacities. That’s what I wanted in furniture and I didn’t see it currently so I decided to design my own.
There were a few other factors and influences that spurred me to start this company when I did in 2021. I was finishing up my stint at a VC firm and supporting numerous entrepreneurs; the lamp I helped design and develop the fabrications for was nearly done, and I couldn’t find a job in furniture design. All of these factors deciding to start studio apotroes (which went through a few name changes) at the time I did. Looking back for marketing reason I definitely wished I had the gall to start this company in 2020 at the start of the pandemic when people were deep into redecorating but c’est la vie. I knew from the start I wanted to the brand to focus on sustainability but in a very different way that’s currently approached in the market. We would be holistically sustainable, similar to the sustainability we practiced in the co-op I lived in during undergrad (hi scoopies!). This sustainability factored in finance and culture in addition to the environment. It is the definition that has impacted me the most but also the one I think is the best, the most sustainable, and the one I use daily (+ in all my writing).
We all know what sustainability is…or at least think we know. Sustainability is often marketed as this expensive complete overhaul of one’s life to be full of natural colors, unpainted wood, glass, bamboo, and sleek metals; or has some high barrier to entry. The marketing perfect aesthetic is highly uniform and similar to the goals of the international style in architecture, intentionally devoid of place, culture, and heritage. While there is technically very little wrong with this aesthetic it is harmful and counterproductive to make it the defacto aesthetic associated with something as vital and common as sustainability. At it’s core sustainability is about reducing, reusing, rethinking, and recycling. You’ve probably already practiced it and didn’t realize it or think about it too deeply. From deciding you don’t actually need another garment or pan or lamp to reusing the glass jar your pasta sauce came in. These ubiquitous ways of practicing sustainability are vital because they are normal and second nature. They highlight the way that sustainability at its core is a practice and set of decisions, not a virtue-signaling aesthetic that can be conveyed through a uniform look. Sustainability truly has no uniform aesthetic and can fit into any style. Currently, we don’t see this, so people are turned off by the practice of sustainability because they feel like they have to lose part of their personal style to fit this marketed idea of sustainability. This is detrimental to actually achieving global sustainability which given our climate crisis is needed but also what many people want to support. (quick aside: That’s actually why I settled on the name apotroes, which is a play on the word apotropaic, the type of magic behind phrases like “knock on wood”. It means to turn away or ward off malintent, because we really need to turn away from the various unsustainable habits and practices in our society that have led us to this climate crisis. It also expresses hope that our efforts will impactful (especially with our experimental efforts). In order for sustainability to really become commonplace it needs to meet people aesthetically where they are currently. The aesthetics at studio apotroes are silly and refined (like our exaggerated pieces like the honeycomb coffee table), they’re culturally inspired (we have chairs inspired by African combs and picks), some are simply just fun (i.e. the bobbi shelf or the chairs we did for cafe mars), and others are just refined in the style of mid-century and Scandinavian design (our luna tabouret and some of our upcoming lamps).
Okay I’ve spent a little too much time on the aesthetics (cultural/heritage) and environmental facets of sustainability. I just get riled up! Financial sustainability happens a few ways. It needs to be financially accessible, which I’ll acknowledge is really difficult to do when you have to pay yourself/employees livable wages and while providing a quality of product that isn’t as common as it once was. We do offer financing to be more accessible and inclusive because we understand that people are really underpaid. We use thick solid wood because everything is built to last multiple generations. We design and build everything to last because that is also part of financial sustainability. We hope that the pieces are able to maintain value based on design and craftsmanship alone but personally, I hope you keep the pieces in your home for generations to come.
So that’s why I started studio apotroes and a little about it. I wanted furniture that was fun, refined, wacky, and culturally inspired. I wanted furniture made out of solid wood or some really funky materials like oysters that diverted waste in the process. Furniture designed to last and be passed down generations. There are some really cool projects coming up that I can’t wait to share so stayed tuned and follow studio apotroes on instagram if you don’t already (oh and sign up the newsletter I put a lot of work into it).
okay so actually the company started as just an instagram account to force me to be comfortable sharing my work and the first thing i design was the honeycomb coffee table which is a few homes and was published almost immediately after i released it which was really nice considering i this whole thing really started with me trying to get comfortable sharing my work.