SPOTLIGHT
We hear a lot about the difficulty of finding expert artisans now— did you encounter that?
I don’t think the difficulty is in finding them, just because Los Angeles has had such a history through the movie industry, which has largely gone elsewhere. These artisans, some of them, have been doing it for generations in their family, and their opportunity is drying up just because movies aren’t being made in the same way in California. I feel very empowered that we can work with these people to prevent these trades dying out. I also feel very proud to be in the same vein of other female-founded furni ture brands of Southern California, like Rose Tarlow—who is across the street from me on Melrose—or Sally Sirkin Lewis or Nancy Corzine. I wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing today in LA if they did not pave the way.
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“I feel very empowered that we can work with these Well at first, I had been making my people to prevent these furniture in a certain way for ten years, trades dying out.” and over a very short period of time,
What were the biggest challenges you encountered bringing manufacturing in-house?
a new group of artists had to learn how to make our pieces seamlessly—and there’s a learning curve. So the amount of prototyping involved was very detailed. But the bigger challenge was that it meant managing a totally different type of workforce—and even very different specialties within that. We do everything from case pieces to upholstery to metal work to finishing all in one facility, and that requires careful management. I hired about 27 new people, trained them, and now manage them.
Natasha Baradaran DLN Member
the quarterly – issue six – summer 2025