Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to JIAJUN SHI. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
JIAJUN, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today How did you come up with the idea for your business?
I first came to the U.S. for university to study interior design, and later pursued a master’s degree in architecture. After spending many years immersed in the world of spatial design, I began to ask myself a deeper question:
What kind of design truly connects with people on an intimate, everyday level?
That’s when I found myself drawn to furniture. Unlike buildings, furniture can be both artistic and deeply personal — something that doesn’t just surround people, but physically supports them, interacts with them, and becomes part of their emotional space. It felt like the perfect scale to explore design that is both expressive and human-centered.
Later, while working as an interior design consultant, I started noticing a recurring concern among clients:
their beloved pets were damaging their furniture.
That really stuck with me. It made me think — what if we could create furniture that is not only beautiful and sculptural, but also soft, durable, and welcoming to both humans and animals?
This intersection — between form, comfort, and real-life needs — is where FORMIING was born.
Today, we create pieces that celebrate curves, tactility, and interaction. Our furniture is designed to be hugged, scratched, leaned on — by people, kids, pets — and still hold its shape, its beauty, and its soul. For me, it’s not just about making furniture — it’s about shaping a more emotionally connected way of living.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Hi, I’m Jiajun Shi — Co-founder of FORMIING, an independent furniture and design studio based in New York. My journey into the world of design started when I moved to the U.S. to study interior design as an undergraduate. Later, I pursued a Master of Architecture, spending years learning to shape space through structure, light, and material.
But over time, I found myself yearning for a scale of design that felt more personal and emotionally resonant — something that could interact directly with the human body and spirit. That led me to furniture: a medium that, to me, bridges sculpture and daily life. It’s tactile, functional, poetic — and deeply intimate. You touch it. You live with it. It becomes part of your story.
What We Do at FORMIING
At FORMIING, we design and produce sculptural, emotionally-driven furniture that blends softness, functionality, and a sense of play. Our pieces feature organic forms, rounded edges, and pet-friendly finishes — meant to feel gentle, welcoming, and adaptable to modern life.
We offer:
Furniture collections: lounges, modular seating, stools, vases, and objects
Custom design and soft furnishing consultation
Collaborations with interior designers and creative studios
Designs tailored for both residential and hospitality projects
We’re not just a furniture brand — we’re a studio that blends product design with spatial sensibility. Our team includes architects and designers, which allows us to think across scale — from object to environment — and create work that’s not just beautiful, but deeply considered in context.
Why We Exist: Solving Real-Life Design Challenges
The spark for FORMIING came while I was working in interior design consulting. Many clients — especially young professionals and families — loved their pets, but felt limited in their furniture choices. Their pets would scratch, bite, or shed on their sofas, and so they either gave up on beauty or comfort — or both.
I saw an opportunity to do better. To create furniture that’s beautiful, sculptural, but also soft, durable, and welcoming to both humans and animals. Because our homes shouldn’t just look good — they should feel good, and support how we really live.
What Sets Us Apart
Soft design language with strong sculptural identity
Pet-friendly finishes without compromising aesthetics
Cross-disciplinary team of architects, designers, and fabricators
Emotional storytelling embedded in each product
Focus on interaction — not just how furniture looks, but how it invites people (and pets) to touch, sit, lean, play, and feel
Our ROO Lounge Chair — a cocoon-like seat with soft curves — recently received a SIT Design Award, which affirmed our belief that comfort and form can coexist in emotionally impactful ways.
What I’m Most Proud Of
I’m proud that FORMIING has grown organically through community, collaborations, and curiosity. From exhibiting at ICFF in New York, to working with local artists and showrooms, to receiving heartfelt feedback from customers who say our pieces “make their space feel alive” — it’s been incredibly fulfilling.
But more than anything, I’m proud of staying true to our values — that design can be soft, inclusive, joyful, and human.
What I Want People to Know
We’re here to design not just objects, but feelings — the feeling of coming home, of being held, of having a space that reflects who you are. Whether you’re a designer, a homeowner, or someone just looking for a special piece that sparks joy — I hope you’ll find something in FORMIING that resonates.
Let’s create spaces that are not only beautiful, but kind — to our bodies, to our pets, and to our sense of belonging.
How did you build your audience on social media?
At FORMIING, we realized early on that furniture is more than a product — it’s a conversation. That’s why we’ve been intentional about using different platforms in different ways to share not just what we make, but how and why we make it.
We started our podcast as a way to share the behind-the-scenes of building a design studio from scratch. We talk about things like:
How we decide on a product brief
How we balance “emotional design” with real-world constraints
The realities of production, packaging, and working with suppliers
Feedback from clients and how it shapes redesigns
Internal conversations as cofounders — from design decisions to business structure
The podcast lets us speak more casually and transparently about our journey — especially the in-between moments, the not-so-finished ideas, and the learning curves we’re navigating as young founders. For us, it’s less about polished storytelling and more about building in public.
We hope listeners feel like they’re growing with us — whether they’re other creatives, designers, or just people curious about how a small brand evolves.
On Instagram, we focus less on showing just “products” and more on context and mood. We want people to see how our pieces exist in real spaces:
A stool next to a sunlit window in a Brooklyn studio
A lounge chair layered with textiles in a colorful living room
A vase sitting quietly on a bedside table
Behind-the-scenes clips of materials, foam, or us building prototypes in our studio
We’re especially interested in showing how the same piece can adapt to different environments — residential, hospitality, exhibition — and still hold its emotional character. We share a lot of “in-between” moments: objects being wrapped, carried, unboxed, arranged. These micro-stories help people see our furniture not as fixed catalog images, but as living pieces that evolve with you.
Can you talk to us about how your side-hustle turned into something more.
From Side Hustle to Studio: How FORMIING Took Shape
When FORMIING first started, it wasn’t my idea alone. My cofounder had already begun exploring furniture as a side project — sketching and prototyping sculptural pieces while working in architecture. I was still focused on interiors and spatial design at the time, but I was fascinated by the way they approached form: soft, rounded, and full of personality.
We started collaborating more closely when we began working with real clients through interior design consulting. Again and again, we heard the same frustrations — people wanted beautiful furniture that could also survive real life, especially with pets or kids at home. So we began asking ourselves:
How do we take these dreamy, sculptural forms and make them more livable, durable, and emotionally resonant?
That’s when FORMIING really started to evolve — not just as a design passion, but as a brand with a clear purpose.
Growing Through Feedback
Together, we used our consulting work as a kind of live R&D. Every client conversation, every site visit, every awkward living room layout or pet-damaged sofa became a chance to improve our designs. We’d take notes on what people wished existed — and then go back and adjust our pieces: the fabrics, the shapes, the finishes, even the proportions. It was iterative, hands-on, and grounded in real living needs.
Key Milestones
Some of the turning points included:
Getting featured by independent design platforms — which brought in a wider creative community and early adopters
Launching our first pop-up exhibition — where people could touch and sit with the pieces in person
Getting into ICFF — a huge moment that gave us visibility among architects, buyers, and press
Winning the SIT Design Award for our ROO Lounge Chair — which validated our belief that softness, sculpture, and function can coexist beautifully
Eventually, the demand and momentum around FORMIING started to outpace my full-time job. That’s when I knew it was time to make the leap — to stop treating it as a side project and start running it as a real studio.
What I’ve Learned
What surprised me the most is how powerful it is to build something slowly, with care and conviction. We didn’t go viral. We didn’t raise funding. But we kept showing up, refining our designs, talking to our customers, and learning from every small batch.
Now, FORMIING is not just a business — it’s a platform for rethinking how furniture can be more human, inclusive, and joyful. We’ve grown into a small but mighty team, working with interior designers, buyers, and pet-loving homeowners alike — and we’re just getting started.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://formiing.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/formiing_studio?igsh=bXp3eTF5b2cxb2Fj&utm_source=qr
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/107248294/admin/dashboard/
- Other: https://issuu.com/jiajunshi/docs/formiing_catalogue?fr=sZmE3NzgzNzI5OTg
